Would I have to isolate if my cleaner caught Covid?

[MaggieFS]

Please don't have a go with all guns blazing - this is a 'what if ' question and hasn't happened!

My cleaner is willing and allowed to continue to come and clean. And of course she still needs to earn. I know she's being scrupulously careful, as we are, and trust each other to be so. We have been keeping more than 2m from each other when she's here anyway, typically I'll call hello from upstairs when she arrives, she'll clean downstairs and then we'll switch, via one of going into a different room as the other uses the stairs.

My question is, if she (or I for that matter) were to contract Covid, would this count as a close contact and force the other to isolate? She'd have been in my house, but there wouldn't have been any contact whatsoever.

(I know this isn't specific to this week's news, but the news about increased transmission rates has got me thinking).

www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/self-isolation-and-treatment/when-to-self-isolate-and-what-to-do/

Scroll down to "what does close contact mean?"

"Examples of close contact include:

close face to face contact (under 1 metre) for any length of time – including talking to them or coughing on them
being within 1 to 2 metres of each other for more than 15 minutes – including travelling in a small vehicle
spending lots of time in your home, such as cleaning it"

Not an identical situation but we had a plumber come to our home to service our heating in October we stayed in a different room while he was here but he did have to go into 3 different rooms to work he tested positive 2 days later and we were informed by the heating company and track and trace when I checked that we were not close contacts and didn’t need to isolate. He was wearing a mask and gloves and cleaned down all surfaces he touched. We have a cleaner once a fortnight and we just leave the house for the 3 hours she is here either a walk or to visit my parents (in our bubble before anyone starts!) so I wouldn’t class us as close contacts if she tested positive, and she disinfects the handles etc. that she has to touch and wears gloves.

A school local to me had to close after a cleaner with covid spread it around a lot of classrooms while cleaning. She was the person that touched the most surfaces in the school.

I don't think you would. Our cleaner is still coming, we both stay in the office the whole time and she doesn't clean that room. We shout hello and thanks, bye down the stairs when she arrives and leaves and that's it.

It would depend whether she came within 2 metres of you or not. If she didn't then it would be like any other workplace. You might be advised to do the domestic equivalent of a deep clean.

Well that seems pretty definitive from @QueenStromba I'll still have windows open and go out anyway, but that must be incredibly hard on people who still have to go out to work and aren't even in the house when the cleaner is in. They'd also have to isolate and not be able to work.

@MaggieFS

Well that seems pretty definitive from *@QueenStromba* I'll still have windows open and go out anyway, but that must be incredibly hard on people who still have to go out to work and aren't even in the house when the cleaner is in. They'd also have to isolate and not be able to work.

I agree with you it is difficult.

I don't think any of us would be unsympathetic

But track and trace will likely contact you if cleaner caught Covid and was honest with you , as a lovely PP has found the relevant guidance

It's pretty clear. If cleaner was Covid+ or you, either of you & your household would be required to self isolate at home. Tbh I would have surprised if guidance said difficult. For the hour + she is in your home
She would be breathing out virus 🦠 and you would be returning to that even if you went out when she came round or opened all the windows to freeze fresh air your house! .

Luckily it hasn't happened and you said you and she are being careful, so it is fabulous she and you are reducing risks anyway so hopefully risk of her or you catching Covid elsewhere is also reduced.

If guidance said different not difficult - doh. Stupid auto incorrect!

Glad it isn't a reality for you right now though OP.

Technically, I think you wouldn’t be forced to isolate. But the reality is if you are in the same house, even if not at the same time, given the increased transmissibility of the new variant, you could indeed pass the virus between you. Unless you are desperate for a cleaner, why not do the civic minded thing and tell her not to come in for a few weeks but still continue to pay her (you have the money budgeted after all). We need to all reduce contacts as much as humanly possible.

I think officially no, if you are always 2m apart, if she works in separate rooms, etc., you wouldn't count as a contact. But I would be cautious, particularly with this new variant.

Definition of contact for tracing purposes.

Yes, I would. Don't they reckon the particles hang in the air which causing the spread indoors? Can't see why it's different because the cleaner is a cleaner and not your friend or family member.