What is current view about exposure to someone before they had symptoms?

[worriedmama1980]

Went to friends house for socially distanced bbq last weekend: stopped by for 30 min, there were six adults from three households including us, had a v quick catch up outside the whole time then went home.

Have now heard one of them started to feel achey and unwell on Wednesday night and is waiting on a test.

Obviously if it comes back positive we'll have to get tested and self isolate which will be a nightmare with a toddler but I'm just wondering what realistic likelihood of contracting it is.

The stuff about you taking 14 days to show symptoms I know, though I also know it's more likely to be 5 or 6 days, but I can't find up to date info on when you're (most) contagious during that period.

If my friend had it on Saturday, but didn't show symptoms till Wednesday night, is it likely he was contagious? And if I visited someone on Sunday, having contracted it from him on Saturday, would I have been contagious at that point? If anyone can point to reliable up to day info it would be helpful. I feel like with cold and flu season this kind of scenario will become more common and I think it would help me to understand if I'm dealing with just the necessary inconvenience of self isolating or a real chance of one of us getting quite ill.

Test and trace will ask for close contacts from the 48 hours before symptoms started. They would be people you were within 2m of for at least 15 minutes. If you were outside its even more unlikely to be passed on

Most contagious in the 2-3 days prior to symptoms, so you may well be fine, especially if it was outside and quite distanced. Wait and get a test if needed.

It’s contagious 2-3 days before symptoms start. So if he didn’t start to feel symptoms until Wednesday I think you are fine. I think test & trace use 48 hours, so I doubt you’d be identified as a contact even if he’s positive.

Obviously if it comes back positive we'll have to get tested and self isolate

No, you only get a test if you develop symptoms.

2-3 days infectious before symptoms. You don't say when on Wed - woke up with, or can on during day?

Either way, before Sunday is v likely to be OK (and would fall outside T&T). But are you sure no-one else at the BBQ has been feeling unwell (even mildly)? As these households are sharing, then they might also have shared the initial contact which brought it in, and there might have been more than one contagious person

I don't think you need to isolate, but think the right thing to do is to be extra vigilant about hygiene and in particular mask wearing, and maximise the distance you keep away from people.

And on a side note, normal colds, throat infections seem to be doing the rounds which I find really bizarre with all the new sanitising the fuck out of everything and wearing masks.

I'm currently in bed feeling like shit. Not Covid.

Thanks everyone: I'm in ireland so under our protocol even with no symptoms if I was identified as a close contact we would have to self isolate for 14 days and test, and stay self isolating even if test is negative.

Relieved to hear 48 hours though, sounds like earliest he felt symptoms was Wednesday night, though could have been Wednesday morning but we saw him Saturday night so unlikely to be a risk.

We're juggling work and childcare and the idea of losing 14 days right now is horrific so that's v good news (and obviously keeping fingers crossed he tests negative and is well which is more important)

Also @yawnsvillex I agree entirely: I am amazed at the resilience of the common cold. We spent most of lockdown self isolating due to my toddler picking up two separate cough/colds but what amazed me was how on Earth we got them- she almost certainly picked them up from me during a time when the only contact we had with the outside world was grocery shopping every two weeks, I was the only one going to a shop and using hand san on everything and wearing a mask. Other than that we ran about in a park staying away from other people and said hello to neighbours we passed from a significant distance. No other contact.

I am baffled by it, and wary about what it means for the next six months.