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Original poster

Caught Covid outside? :(

446 replies

Threelittlegins · 21/11/2020 10:14

My husband has been working from home for months.
We don’t go to a supermarket we have food delivered and we always wipe it down.

Since lockdown began the only places we have been is for a walk.

I take my DS for a walk to our local park most days. (Only a baby so we don’t use the play area)

On Tuesday I met up with a friend and we went for a walk around a local lake.
It was quite busy but I never had close contact with anyone.
A few runners did run past quite close though.

Me and my friend distanced the whole time.

Before our walk we visited the cafe for a takeaway coffee. It’s all done outside so we didn’t have to go in.

I did drink from a disposable coffee cup but sanitised my hands when I’d finished, washed hands when I got home.

This morning I’ve got a sore throat and a tickly cough. 😖
I’ve ordered a test.

OP posts:
BeeDavis · 21/11/2020 11:30

Funnily enough it’s November and cold outside. Easy to catch anything this time of year. Bit of a dramatic title!

VanGoghsDog · 21/11/2020 11:31

@HumanFemale1

Covid is hardly the only reason for a sore throat and a tickly cough.

I don't understand why you would order a test, you're not going anywhere so even if you are positive you cannot pass it on to somewhere else.

It's people like you who are the reason why we're back in lockdown, you're driving the cases up while being not only healthy but not in danger of passing it on to someone else. I despair

She's not "driving the cases up" by having a test. If she's got it, she's got it. This is a public health issue and the best way to control the spread of the virus is for the health officials to know who has got it and how they got it.

It's pretty unlikely she has it, but it's still important to know. From our local stats, only about 5% of those tested are positive. But it's good that they are checking.

christinarossetti19 · 21/11/2020 11:34

Threelittlegins the point that is being made is that people socially distancing by standing either side of a path make it impossible for anyone else who uses that path to socially distance as they have to go between them.

No-one is suggesting that you don't socially distance, let alone rub shoulders.

OhSoScared · 21/11/2020 11:34

Mumsnet is so fuckin weird sometimes. Picking at the thread title, being completely rude to the OP, and then saying that her and the friend were being an inconvenience because they social distanced. What the fuck?! If you dont like this thread, the OP, or the fuckin title they stay the fuck off the thread.

Skipsurvey · 21/11/2020 11:35

walking past social distance people should not affect you!

midgebabe · 21/11/2020 11:35

@christinarossetti19

Threelittlegins the point that is being made is that people socially distancing by standing either side of a path make it impossible for anyone else who uses that path to socially distance as they have to go between them.

No-one is suggesting that you don't socially distance, let alone rub shoulders.

Well it is possible for people to move into a line to let someone past you know , although too difficult for some people to do
IceCreamAndCandyfloss · 21/11/2020 11:36

@DownWhichOfLate

Oh god. You’re one of them. You and your friend stood opposite sides of the path, forcing everyone to have to walk / run between you!
Pavements here aren’t 2m wide in the first instance in many places so there would be be two meters between friends let alone forcing others inbetween.
Remmy123 · 21/11/2020 11:38

😂😂😂

MrsMiaWallis · 21/11/2020 11:40

@OhSoScared

Mumsnet is so fuckin weird sometimes. Picking at the thread title, being completely rude to the OP, and then saying that her and the friend were being an inconvenience because they social distanced. What the fuck?! If you dont like this thread, the OP, or the fuckin title they stay the fuck off the thread.
I know. It's pathetic to criticise the thread title
CooperLooper · 21/11/2020 11:41

@MrsWarleggan

Maybe just a cold. Especially if you are walking around lakes. It's not exactly warm at the moment. Fingers crossed its not covid Flowers
You don't catch colds from being in cold weather....
Keepdistance · 21/11/2020 11:41

It may stay in the air longer at lower temps?
We got ill 4d after outside contact with supermarket delivery (no masks) around 1m away. This was in march so cooler.

Op surely you were closer than 2m to the server? To take the drink and pay?

Dc had a cold in sept we all caught it despite her staying in her room as soon as she had a temp (so contact the day before including in the car) she have it to dc2.

Your friend maybe asymptomatic. At the moment 1% of people have covid i think according to ons.

WingingItSince1973 surely thats from the gs. Lots of people especially children have no symptoms. But also... Rashs are a symptom of covid so maybe he didn't have cp, but even if he did that shows that is being spread probably at school. Cp can give immune adults cod like symptoms.
Interestingly our school had 'cp' a couple of weeks ago and now has a covid case..

Northernsoulgirl45 · 21/11/2020 11:41

Fingers crossed for. Negative result.

nellyburt · 21/11/2020 11:45

You've only been for walks since March? Are or were you classed as clinically vulnerable?

SpamIAm · 21/11/2020 11:45

From what we know about covid transmission, it's unlikely that it's covid (although I'd be interested in your result if you're happy to share when you get it).

When 'stay at home' was lifted here in Wales, we went for a walk in a nearby country park. Obviously passed people on the path, but kept our distance as best we could and weren't near anybody for more than a couple of seconds. DS was 6 months at the time and got so ill a couple of days later that we ended up in the hospital. Whilst there's so much focus on covid it's easy to forget that there are still countless other viruses out there, with very different transmission characteristics to covid, and taking the measures recommended to reduce the risk of covid doesn't necessarily reduce our risk of other infections by the same amount.

I hope you're not feeling too poorly OP.

MadameBlobby · 21/11/2020 11:49

If you think it might be a cold see if anyone can pick up a Vicks first defence for you today, it’s brilliant stuff! Supermarkets all sell it. I’ve warded off so many colds with it

SurferRona · 21/11/2020 11:50

That’s true for some viruses @justanotherneighinparadise, those which are latent such as herpes as you’ve said, also varicella, hepatitis etc, but not for coronaviruses, rhinoviruses, flu - respiratory viruses are generally not latent. The infected person’s immunosystem can cause longer term organ damage, but that isn’t due to a latent virus flaring up again.

SpillingTheTea · 21/11/2020 11:57

It's probably a cold. Me and my DS have colds at the moment. His nose is steaming and I feel like I've swallowed glass.

SoupDragon · 21/11/2020 12:00

Its an overly dramatic title, the sad face was unnecessary . It hides the question mark and insinuates they already have it

No it doesn't.

SurferRona · 21/11/2020 12:00

@Threelittlegins depends on the risk to you and yours from contracting it. Notwithstanding underlying conditions, age is a key determinant of outcomes, and as a PP said it’s almost impossible to eliminate the risk entirely. Keeping a good distance away from runners who are huffing and puffing, possibly younger and more likely to be a asymptomatic is a good suggestion, but eg are you wiping down your food with the right dilution of disinfectant? Are you quarantining post, washing your hands frequently and correctly? Are you using the local incidence maps to go to areas where the rates are lower? I’m not doing these, but I don’t see my risk from covid as that high (though I don’t want to get it!). That’s what I suggest by a critical review! Hope you recover quickly Flowers

Skipsurvey · 21/11/2020 12:01

but your resistance can be lowered by not being out and about and then having a walk in the cold damp air

Skipsurvey · 21/11/2020 12:03

i blame the joggers with their forced expulsion of air! Wink

SquishySquirmy · 21/11/2020 12:03

The rules and the precautions massively reduce the risk of catching something (covid and other bugs).
But that risk does not reduce to zero.
Say the risk of catching a virus from a coffee cup was 1 in 10,000. You would be very unlikely to catch anything that way, but out of all the people in the UK someone will.
Doesn't mean that you have. And even if you were unlucky enough to catch a cold that way, it's very possible that your friend wouldn't despite also buying a coffee. Because it is about risk. If you and your friend both flipped a coin, would you be surprised if you got different results?

Likewise, keeping 2m away from someone does not make it impossible to catch a virus from them. It makes it less likely that you will.

And all of the above about risk does not mean that the precautions are pointless....
You could be a very sensible driver, and still get in an accident. This does not mean that driving sensibly is pointless, and it doesn't mean that we should all stop driving either.

Madcats · 21/11/2020 12:04

I hope you feel better soon, OP.
Is it possible that you have an allergy to mould or fungi?

If so, an antihistamine might do the trick. DB was convinced he'd picked up COVID in the spring until I reminded him it was tree pollen season.

GreyishDays · 21/11/2020 12:05

@tenlittlecygnets

A sore throat isn't a Covid symptom. Nor is a tickly cough.
Yes the cough is.
BlueBlancmange · 21/11/2020 12:06

@midgebabe

I think I read somewhere that most colds are more contagious than covid
I've wondered about this but had never seen it stated anywhere. Only that Covid is more contagious than flu.
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