Which scenario...?

[Apostrophy]

Which of these would you say is right/ be comfortable with?

Person A tests positive for covid, and lives alone. They need meds from pharmacy so message a friend to collect them and drop them off:

a) friend drops meds on doorstep and leaves, calling whilst leaving to say they are there to pick up. (No interaction at all).

b) friend drops meds on doorstep, rings bell and retreats to street - hovers to check A opens door, gives cheery wave and leaves.

c) friend drops meds on doorstep, rings bell and stands back, has a quick "hello, how're you holding up, sorry you're ill" chat - but all 2m away at least, with friend wearing a mask.

Just having a debate and wondering whether one of us is overly risk averse, or whether the other is overly relaxed!

In theory all OK. In practise I'd be slightly worried about c).

Theyre all fine aren't they?

You're over thinking

I would want someone to do a, if I was the unwell person.

c) would have probably been ok with the old variant of covid, but not the new one.

a nd b should be ok

If possible the best option is to park outside the house, drop on the doorstep, retreat to the car and phone to let them know, and then wait in the car until they have collected the medication from the doorstep.

..and if I was dropping meds I would do a too.

I'd want c, but willing to admit I'm in the wrong and a or b are probably safer options.

Maybe that's risk averse, but why not be a bit risk averse given the situation? Better than being laissez faire and regretting it

In my opinion:

a = best
b = fine
c = borderline and unnecessarily risky

I would be fine with all 3.. and would love for c to happen.. it is important to check in with people who are self isolating.

I’d do C as I would want to make sure they were ok.

whether or not a is a viable option very much depends on the location as in some areas the medication would disappear before they had chance to collect it if you didn't keep it in your sight until they collected it.

If I were sick then I'd want a), as I'd feel so awful if the friend got covid soon after, as I'd assume I breathed too hard whilst waving from 8m away. Obvs that's totally ridiculous but I'm the risk averse one

We are in agreement that entering the house and licking the ill friend would be a bad idea, so reckless DP isn't entirely unreasonable ;)

He's currently without work, so has signed up as a volunteer to help out people who are isolating and need things dropped off urgently (meds, food before a delivery arrives etc). We were just discussing the practicalities, which is why this came up.

I agree with checking in with the sick person, but I think this could be done by calling them, rather than standing 2m from them.

Would it change things if it were a stranger you were delivering things to? Would you still stop for a quick check up chat? Am I a terrible friend coz I'd retreat and call as I was walking home to say I'd dropped stuff off and "how are you?", even with my best friends?!

I'd do C.

Probably the only interaction that poorly person gets.

2m plus though if possible.
But then again I'm pretty relaxed about covid and I know I shouldn't be but I can't give it the headspace as I'd make myMH pitfall.

Why can't he do a safer version of C?

Place meds on our outside door.
Ring doorbell (I would personally press the door with a pen or similar rather than my finger).
Retreat at least 5 or 6 metres away.
Wearing a mask and being a good, pretty safe distance away, check the person is ok.

2 metres is not enough with the more contagious strain. You can have a perfectly reasonable short conversation at 5 - 6 metres away or even further.

Bare in mind though that if the person is ill with Covid, having a conversation may not be what they actually want to do. I would check if they want someone to simply drop and run or if they want the person to check on them first.

Gosh shouldn't the council be giving them more guidance?

@Lindy2 I suspect you're right about this but have you seen any evidence anywhere:
2 metres is not enough with the more contagious strain. You can have a perfectly reasonable short conversation at 5 - 6 metres away or even further.
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This happened to me last week, my friend did c, although was at least 5 metres away, not 2.

If I had been the one dropping the medication off I would've chosen a.

For me would depend on who's involved.

A = colleagues, neighbors
B = wider family, friends
C = close family member, best friend

@Lindy2 I suspect you're right about this but have you seen any evidence anywhere:
2 metres is not enough with the more contagious strain. You can have a perfectly reasonable short conversation at 5 - 6 metres away or even further.
?

No I've no evidence apart from what I can see happening around me. We have a very high infection rate where I live. Over 1000 per 100,000.

The majority of people in this area seem to have been quite sensible throughout. Distancing and mask wearing etc. There's some idiots but aren't there some everywhere.

We went from a very low rate of around 299 to over 1000 in just 3 weeks! The beginning of December to mid December the cases just skyrocketed. We still have a high rate now that seems to be staying steady. Not rising but not falling either.

People's behaviour here didn't change, the virus did. I don't think 2 meters is enough any more but I have no scientific proof.

It's also whole families catching it. If one person in your house gets it, it now seems you all probably will. That wasn't the case before. It's a horrible situation.

Yes @Lindy2, let's hope it starts to get better soon. Thanks

Yabu to not have hired The Milk Tray guy to deliver them via upstairs window whilst wearing a black silk face mask..

If you were a volunteer delivering to lots of infected people I think it would be reckless and stupid to stand on their doorstep and chat to all of them.

Would definitely not opt for C. A mask protects you from passing to others but not from the covid person giving it to you and why take the risk if someone is positive with a highly infectious virus ?