Close contact and PPE

[thenewaveragebear1983]

Please help me work this out. I'm trying to fill in this wretched track and trace questionnaire and it's really complicated and I can't seem to back Space to check my entries

If I was sharing an office with people but they were wearing a mask and so was I, are they 'close contacts'? 1-2m apart for 15 mins or more, or 1m for 1 minute or more - but the questions say if wearing PPE in accordance with ... etc . So are they contacts or not?

What if I was wearing my mask but they weren't? I assume then that's not sufficient PPE so yes, she is a contact.

It makes a massive difference because it's the difference between our school possibly having to close or not so I need it to be right. I am suffering with real corona-head-spin as well, it's a recognised symptom, and I just cannot concentrate.

Please can someone help me or link me to some very simply put advice

PPE only stops you being a contact in a clinical setting I’m afraid, and proper PPE , gloves, pinny, mask, goggles, a mask doesn’t count for anything in identifying contacts

Face coverings are not PPE

A simple mask wouldnt of been enough

I suspect the school will have to close

PPE only applies in a clinical setting where staff have been trained to wear it. If you were in eg an office, wearing face coverings that does not count for the purposes of PPE in a contact tracing sense.

Oh ok, thank you.

Sorry I know it probably seems stupid but my head is in the clouds and I feel this huge burden of responsibility

PPE protects the wearer. Face coverings protect the environment and the other people in it from the wearer.

Why am I suspecting that the T&T questionnaire is a crock of shit...?

@thenewaveragebear1983

Oh ok, thank you.

Sorry I know it probably seems stupid but my head is in the clouds and I feel this huge burden of responsibility

God no, it’s not you. It’s the woeful messaging. Hope you feel better immediately 💐

What's even more terrifying is that I work in a school and these are SLT and Senco I am talking about, people who cross bubbles and work with our most vulnerable students and I'm being told they don't count as close contacts. I could cry with the burden of responsibility, the whole system is a joke. I am virtually asymptomatic but a further 4 office colleagues have been off and it's clearly coming within school although no contacts within 48 hours so I didn't have to isolate. I've now got it and again, they're trying to say these people don't need to isolate.

It's really frightening

I’m SLT and these are close contacts.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-contacts-of-people-with-possible-or-confirmed-coronavirus-covid-19-infection-who-do-not-live-with-the-person/guidance-for-contacts-of-people-with-possible-or-confirmed-coronavirus-covid-19-infection-who-do-not-live-with-the-person

Thanks

It's clear as day when I read it, anyone within one metre for more than a minute even if you weren't face to face.

Thanks everyone for your help. I've added them all to the contacts list now and we will see what the outcome is. I need to remind myself that I earn £9.70 an hour and my responsibility is to follow the rules and no more. Someone else gets paid to make all the shit decisions