Do I have to self-isolate after a negative coronavirus test????

[grandehorizontale]

Ahhhh - last Thursday I had a slight contact with someone who on Friday fell ill with Corona symptoms. She was tested that day and on Saturday received the positive result. I had a test yesterday and was told it was negative. I have no symptoms. My question: do I have to now self-isolate until 14 days post my contact with the infected person? The guidelines seem to suggest that I have to self-isolate if the track and trace people contact me. The track and trace system seems not to work, so they are probably not going to contact me. Any help anyone? GH

Looking at that link PurpleDaisies posted from the NHS site it says close contact would include being under 1m for any length of time. I’d guess that might cover being handed a can of coke anyway.

@RaspberryRuff

It’s also common sense that people can’t be expected to self isolate at the drop of a hat for 2 weeks after minimal contact with someone.

Possibly. But we only have ourselves to blame for any subsequent lockdowns. The one thing the government can’t be blamed for is the public being idiots.

But the OP doesn’t have to self isolate. How is that being “idiotic”?

As I said if the woman who gave you your change in Aldi tested positive would you self isolate for a fortnight? We’d end up in lockdown by stealth anyway with everyone having to self isolate all the time for minimal contact

Dear all, the junior hairdresser who handed me the Diet Coke last Thursday and who tested positive on Friday was contacted only yesterday by the track and trace people. She works in a hairdressing salon, for God's sake - but even though she gave the number of the salon, the salon have not been contacted. No wonder so many people are dying in thi
s country with this bungling.

Hmm, I see your point! So do you know if they told her they'd be contacting everyone who was in the salon that day?

If the brief contact had been outside I'd say no but you spent a long time in the same indoor area as she was. Given that I'd say you do need to but track and trace should have contacted you to tell you. That is shit

If she tested positive on Friday, then she had the test on Thursday or before. But you say she was working on Thursday... Whether she had symptoms, or whether she had contact with someone who tested positive, she should have been isolating at home. Any idea why she wasn't?

Wait, I just saw you said she got symptoms on Friday, so actually she got the result on Saturday rather than on Friday. Contacted on Monday, so 2 days for test-and-trace to get in touch with her. If it was late Saturday and early Monday then it's one missing day. That's not great, but it's not awful either.

Why did you get a test without symptoms as we are specifically told not to do this ?

@Vinoonasunnyday well I got a test because my mum who I live with is on the government vulnerable list. I can’t take any chances
I’m sure most people have their own reasons

I'm confused. A woman you met so briefly she only passed you a can of come tested positive on the Saturday and you managed to get a test the same day,

Sorry but no one should be getting tested unless symptoms

False sense of security

Isolate if exposed or test if symptomatic

There’s no inbetween

People merely exposed should 100% not be tested unless symptoms as they’ll start mixing which goes against gov advice

Freda if exposed u should be isolating full stop

Being tested and coming back negative doesn’t actually mean ur ok so ur still putting ur mum at risk

But people are presenting with different symptoms @Vinoonasunnyday rather than just the publicised three, what then?

My very first symptoms were a sore throat and chest pain. Luckily I did isolate as it was Covid. My DH had just breathlessness throughout, my DD a sore throat and wheezing and my DS a headache and sore throat. We did the right thing and isolated because we knew about the other stmptons.

And what about the asymptomatic??

We all need to play our part or we will face another lockdown...

@Vinoonasunnyday we have isolated for 14 days, I never said we hadn’t
I had a test as a final precaution so that I could enter the room my disabled mum had been isolating in

Oops wrong thread! Have reported for deletion.