DP coworker tested positive.. now what?

[dojac]

DPs co worker has just text to say he has tested positive for COVID. DP has been in close proximity with this colleague as stupidly his workplace haven't adhered to social distancing guidelines.

We don't currently have any symptoms but do we now need to get tested? I'm also worried as we have very young DC..

DP and your household need to quarantine. You only need to get tested if you develop symptoms.

Your partner will have to self isolate. If he gets symptoms he should get tested and you would have to self isolate.

If he has no symptoms then the rest of you should socially disrance from your partner as much as possible. If anyone develops symptoms they should get tested.

covid doesn't affect everyone in the same way, and some people are infected and infectious without feeling ill.

however, if infected you don't become infectious until you have been infected for about a week. also, for the first week after infection the amount of virus in the system is too low to detect reliably with a test.

so. if DH is infected he might not be infectious yet. he needs to self-isolate for 14 days to see if he develops symptoms. officially he doesn't need a test if he doesn't have any symptoms. anecdotally this seems to be because of government cockups failing to provide enough testing capacity. rationally one should test during the second week of this self-isolation whether or not one has symptoms.

because it is possible that DH is infected and already infectious, the same goes for you and the rest of the household. because it is also possible that you aren't infected yet then ideally it would be best for you to self-isolate separately from dh. this may not be practical to achieve in which case obviously if there are any germs they will be shared.

However at present your DH has only been notified by the colleague about the positive test. legally he only has to do all the above if one of the reasons in the above link applies to him. the relevant one is being told to self-isolate by the Test&Trace service. if so far he has not been contacted by T&T but only by the colleague themselves then legally DH doesn't have to self-isolate. anecdotally T&T aren't being massively effective at doing the tracking and contacting people, so it might be wisest to do all the above without waiting for this trigger - but that would need to be agreed with DH's employers because if he hasn't been officially told, they could still require him to come to work. if you/he aren't told to self-isolate and don't do so, then at least be hyper-vigilant about following all social distancing guidelines on the assumption that either of you could be asymptomatically infectious.

@JeanneFrench

DP and your household need to quarantine. You only need to get tested if you develop symptoms.

No just your DP needs to isolate. The rest of the family don't need to unless your dp either tests positive or develops symptoms in the next 14 days. Also I'd try if possible to isolate your dp from the rest of the family for at least a week ( if he has caught it, chances are symptoms will have developed by then) but 2 weeks if you can manage it. Obviously this depends on your personal circumstances how easy it is to isolate within a household. With very small children that may be hard work for you ( at the minimum)

I would not however spend a second worrying about your young children getting it beyond the normal ' nuisance' it is when children get the usual illnesses and colds they get all the time. They have a vanishingly small chance of being seriously ill unless they have other conditions that complicate things.

I also assume you and your dp are not much over 40 ( if you have very small children) so try not to worry too much about your dp or you getting it either.

Depends on where you are - if you’re in Glasgow/West Dum/East ren all of you need to self isolate...!

Your DPs Coworker will be phoned today by test and trace. He should give your partners details and then your partner will be contacted by the test and trace service. However, all this relies on honesty of the person who is positive and them co operating. Some don't pick up the phone and others will not give 100% of the information thinking they are doing their friends and colleagues a favour so that they don't have to co operate.

@KihoBebiluPute

"for the first week after infection the amount of virus in the system is too low to detect reliably with a test."

That is the exact opposite of government advice, whim he is to test within the first 5 days.

Don't have to isolate that should read! But yes your partner should isolate now for 14 days from when he last saw him.

[quote onlinelinda]@KihoBebiluPute

"for the first week after infection the amount of virus in the system is too low to detect reliably with a test."

That is the exact opposite of government advice, whim he is to test within the first 5 days. [/quote]
It's not. Gvt advice is to test within 5 days of symptoms. It can take a week for symptoms to develop; until they have developed, there may not be a testable level of virus in the body.

Which is why 14 days - a week for symptoms to develop and then a week in which you would need to test for confirmation.

• which is to test

Although it's just your DP that needs to isolate, he should be isolating from everyone, including his family. It's likely that for most people that isn't really possible, but he should keep to one room alone as much as possible, try to avoid you in the kitchen and bathroom and give them a clean after he's used them. Having windows open should help waft any viruses away, and at least dilute any aerosol clusters.

Although the family don't need to isolate unless your DP develops symptoms, it's a good idea to bear in mind that you are living with a contact and be extra careful when you go out, just in case you are incubating Covid.