Do I REALLY have to self isolate?

[BusyBB]

So I got a notification from track and trace app to isolate for 10 days.

Called work, a care home where we always wear masks, and have had a test on site. One of my close colleagues has tested positive, but the day that she had tested didn't tally up with the days I had been told to isolate for. If the days did tally up, I would be able to go to work and ignore the message to self isolate.

But guess what, the day I last saw her (two days before she tested) does tally up with how many days i have to isolate for!

I haven't been anywhere else except to see my dad (support bubble, who hasnt tested positive) and occasionally in the shop, but would not have been within two meters of some one for 15 minutes and always wearing a mask.

So am I being unreasonable to think I shouldn't have to isolate if my test comes back negative?

If you were notified by the app then there is no legal duty to isolate. There is only a legal duty to isolate if you are contacted directly by Test and Trace.

If your test is negative, you must still complete your 14-day self-isolation period because the virus may not be detectable yet – this is crucial to avoid unknowingly spreading the virus.
www.gov.uk/guidance/nhs-test-and-trace-how-it-works#:~:text=If%20your%20test%20is%20negative,unknowingly%20spreading%20the%20virus.

I’ll tell my manager you disagree with them and PHE then 🙄

Go ahead. It's not the case in the health care settings that I work in.

@HerewardTheWoke

If you were notified by the app then there is no legal duty to isolate. There is only a legal duty to isolate if you are contacted directly by Test and Trace.

See up thread, that's not what the NHS say on the webpage posted.

Like others I cannot believe that anyone working in a care home could be so blase about the possibility of passing Covid to an elderly patient. Both my daughters work for the NHS and would be horrified at this attitude. You've been told to isolate.

I currently have Covid and it's shit. I'm a month down the line and still feeling terrible. And I'm not elderly and in a home.

Was it the app, or direct contact from T&T?

Legally, the app is non-binding, whereas notification from T&T is.

We also don't isolate if a colleague tests positive as we are in masks and expected to maintain distance.

Makes sense really as we'd never be in if we had 2 weeks off after a contact with a positive patient.

The legislation doesn't say you are legally required to isolate if told to by the app. You also can't claim the isolation payment if told to isolate by the app

@sophandbridge then you are lucky. Both my husband and myself do not need to isolate if we are wearing masks and in contact with a covid positive patient. In fact, when he's on the covid wards that's all he gets, no FFP3 mask for him.

No, you're special and the rules don't apply to you.

I don’t have the application because I know I will question it every time and I can’t afford to self isolate after being told by unreliable software like this.
I will self isolate if I’m called by track and trace or school.
You either have application and follow what I says or you don’t have it at all.

It*

The government and the nhs have been deliberately vague about what is law and what is advice.

You don’t legally have to isolate unless you have tested positive yourself or been told to self isolate by test and trace. The app is not legally binding.

Jesus this thread is so depressing (and not just the OP) and I have never been so grateful I don’t have any family members that require care at the moment.

And I didn't think masks stopped you having to isolate unless you were wearing proper PPE

Pray tell, what is "proper" PPE

*We have been told to wear a mask at all times in work so that if someone tests positive we don’t have to isolate.

That breaks all guidance out there*

Be that as it may. It's true

That's about as likely to be true as if I told you that the Pope has converted to Islam.

Again, its true. Our trust policy is that if a colleague tests positive as long as you were wearing a mask then you don't need to isolate.
If you were not wearing a mask, for example, in the staff rooming lunch. Then you would have to isolate.

@BusyBB you loosing pay versus a relative looses their relative in the care home. It’s a difficult one, both outcomes are equally as bad.

If the only contact you had with the positive individual was definitely completely in line with the gov guidance for healthcare settings (linked above), then PHE might exempt you as a close contact ONLY if all of the rules were being followed to the letter.

Having spent several hours on the phone to them for a situation exactly like this last week, I can tell you that they are particularly keen to know whether PPE is being worn at all times where proper social distancing isn't possible (including in break rooms, in the care home's office etc, basically any time you are anywhere near another human or where one might come near you even if you were originally alone) and that staff have been fully trained in how to correctly don and doff PPE and how to handle and dispose of correctly after use, and are following that training properly at all times.

If you do not believe you count as a close contact based on the guidance for health settings (which is different to guidance for normal people, hence why health and care professional shouldn't have the app on at work because it's based on standard rules), then your employer can contact the local health protection team, who can refer your case to the NHS Test and Trace disputes team and if they're satisfied you don't count as a close contact then they can reverse the instruction to self-isolate.

www.gov.uk/guidance/nhs-test-and-trace-workplace-guidance#guidance-for-workers

Makes it clear that you should pause the contact tracing feature in the app if

"if you are a health or care worker practising infection prevention and control (IPC) working in a clinical setting"

and the FAQ for the app say you should do so if
faq.covid19.nhs.uk/article/KA-01100/en-us?parentid=CAT-01033&rootid=

"are a worker in health and social care and are wearing medical grade PPE such as a surgical mask
are a healthcare worker working in a healthcare building such as a hospital or GP surgery (read more about using the app as a healthcare worker)"

Go ahead. It's not the case in the health care settings that I work in

I'm assuming you don't work with covid then? Because by your health care settings rules you'd never be in work!!

If you’re asked by Test and Trace to isolate, you have a legal obligation.

@SilverIvyRing

If you’re asked by Test and Trace to isolate, you have a legal obligation.

Yes, by a person. Not the app.

What is it with people and finding reasons not to do what’s needed?

If you weren’t in full PPE and you might have Covid and you work in a nursing home.. why would you even question staying home for a bit so you don’t risk those more vulnerable?

I work in a health setting and we have been told that if we wear masks all the time we will not have to stay off work if a colleague tests positive.

Watching Hospital on BBC2 this week, this is the approach the trust was taking. If they didn't they wouldn't have enough staff to run the hospital.

@Lockheart

So I got a notification from track and trace app to isolate for 10 days.

There's your answer.

This!

You work in a care home.

The residents wont thank you if you came in before your self isolation period was up, youve told your employers too so theyd be in a lot of trouble if they allowed you back early.

Stay HOME

@sophandbridge that is what we have been told in our health board, if you both have masks on (normal surgical masks, we don't often need proper FF3) then we don't have to isolate. I have spoken to my Union who are looking into it.