How did you manage when only 1 of you in the house had Covid?

[XiCi]

DH tested positive yesterday. He was tested at work as a work colleague had tested positive and is so far asymptomatic. He's been holed up in the spare room away from me and dd so far but it just seems so unrealistic that he will be quarantined in a small room for 10 days and not be able to move from it. Just wondering what arrangements others have had when only 1 in the household had it.

I had it in november, only dh and me at home. We just carried on as normal apart from self isolating. It was like really bad flu with severe headache plus loss of taste and smell. Dh just had a cold and fatigue so not sure if he even had covid. The worst bit was relying on a neighbour for food etc.

We carried on as normal, hugging, sharing a bathroom. We didn't separate DH from us.

The rest of us didn't catch it, we were probably lucky I know. But we were all isolating together anyway so didn't take precautions.

I tested negative yesterday. Would really like to try and keep the rest of us from getting it though it just seems so random. Other family members have continued sleeping in the same bed as their infected DH and not caught it whilst others have properly isolated the family member and still got it!

We kept DH shut away in the spare room during daytime hours and if he needed to use the toilet/kitchen, he would wear a mask, wipe everything down and be as quick as possible. In the evening, we would sit on opposite sides of the living room and if I needed him to watch DS while I had a shower, id pop him in his playpen surrounded by toys at one end of the hallway We managed to avoid me and both DC (6 & 1 ) catching it!

DH has antibodies (found via a pre-OP blood test). I then had a proper blood test and - nothing.
There are studies out there showing that even without precautions only a minority of people in a household get it.

Other family members have continued sleeping in the same bed as their infected DH and not caught it

I did and I didn't catch it. I ended up having to isolate for weeks though because my husband got quite ill with it.

I think I had it right at the start last February. Only DH and I in the house which is a small cottage without a spare room set up - we've got a blow up bed for guests. We carried on as normal and DH was fine. To be fair I thought at the time that I just had a virus so didn't take the same precautions that I would had I been tested. It's only now looking back that makes me feel that it might have been Covid.

We're pretty sure DS and I had it last March. DH who has asthma kept himself in a room and another bathroom and we separated ourselves out and I cleaned everything in the kitchen in case he came in. I suspect he caught it as he had a v sore head for 4 days and the weird sore hand joints we got but his viral load was prob v small so he didn't get too sick.
Good ventilation in the house is probably as important as anything else.

We didn't keep apart when DP developed a fever and fatigue. I figured he must have Covid and that it was pointless me trying to not get infected and just leave him to his own devices. It seemed unkind. We carried on as normal, sleeping in the same bed. I was convinced I would catch it too, especially as my own health isn't good and I have an autoimmune disease. He recovered in a few days and I never developed any symptoms I'm aware of. I couldn't believe I'd missed getting it.

Yesterday I got the results of a blood antibody test and it turns out not only does DP have antibodies, but so do I! So I had it asymptomatically. This was back in July last year, so the antibodies last for a long time.

DD had it and kept herself away from us as much as possible, own towels etc, sadly she eventually collapsed in the shower and i ended up with it because I rushed in to help. She was fine, I was fine, very mild symptoms. DH and DS didn't get it and DH slept next to me in bed for 4 days before we had confirmation I had it.

Just got on with it. I was the only one who had it.

We just carried on as normal. No one else caught it.

Carried on as normal. We have two young kids, no way I was getting away with isolating myself (although I’d have quite happily done so 🤣). Everyone else tested positive the next day so they’d already got! It was all very mild thankfully.

I had COVID over Christmas, I wasn’t very ill with it at all and only got tested because I lost my sense of smell and taste. I had felt “under the weather” with a cold type thing that felt slightly unusual but nothing from that part of it that spurred me to get tested. My kids were under the weather too but I didn’t get them tested as they weren’t going anywhere. I shared a bed with DP, shared towels, had sex, etc etc and he didn’t catch it. He’s had negative antibody tests since.

To answer your question though (which I clearly forgot to do) we didn’t isolate amongst ourselves.

Didn’t even try and self isolate within the house- but then my young son had symptoms first and made himself sick with coughing so by the time my husband had classic COVID symptoms I figured it was too late.
This was last March. Was a bit scary as just when Italy was on the news all the time. But soon passed with minor symptoms for us.

Whatever has happened in the past with studies things are different now. The Kent variant is much more transmittable than previous strains.

The main route for transmission is now thought to be aerosols, so as long as he remains in one room for most of the time, there is little risk in him leaving to visit the bathroom say, esp if he wears a mask or for longer periods as long as the area they enter is well-ventilated.

The biggest risk is anyone else entering his room, whether or not they wear a mask. Everything else somewhere between the two.

Think of it like he's emitting cigarette smoke - you don't mind the smell, but when the smoke gets thick it makes you cough. His room is going to be REALLY smoky, but say if he joined you in a well-ventilated room for a chat, the smoke is going to go out the window.

You've got to balance risks vs effort.

Thanks notrub that's really helpful. Ive been taking food etc into his room but will leave it outside now.

DH had it, we carried on as normal in the house and didn’t catch it (unless asymptomatic) - me/DDs

My DS12 tested positive at the end of January. We live in NY so have no other family around so I was very worried about my dh and I getting it at the same time.
We are lucky in that my dh and I were able to sleep in separate rooms and used a separate bathroom from ds. We wore masks within the house and just gave each other as much space as possible. Saying that, even though ds didn't have many symptoms, he was very upset a couple of evenings going to sleep so I was in close contact with him then. I cleaned anything and everything.
I'm aware this may have been OTT but we have no-one that our ds can easily go to if both my dh and I were hospitalized. Neither dh and I caught it.

We carried on as normal. Unless you were isolating from him prior to him catching it then it is pointless anyway because you would likely have probably already caught it

@LeSquigh

I had COVID over Christmas, I wasn’t very ill with it at all and only got tested because I lost my sense of smell and taste. I had felt “under the weather” with a cold type thing that felt slightly unusual but nothing from that part of it that spurred me to get tested. My kids were under the weather too but I didn’t get them tested as they weren’t going anywhere. I shared a bed with DP, shared towels, had sex, etc etc and he didn’t catch it. He’s had negative antibody tests since.

Same here. Only got tested because of lack of taste and smell. I didn’t isolate away from dh or the kids. I tested positive on Xmas Eve so we were isolating over Xmas and New Year. Dh has since had negative antibody test.

We live in a flat so it wasn't realistic to be isolated away from each other, plus my DD was clingy to me and husband had to work (from home), they didn't catch it thankfully

DS was holed up in his room for the requisite 10 days just before Christmas. Common sense dictated leaving food on a trolley outside - appetite clearly not affected - and wearing mask and gloves to collect his dishes and wash them separately from ours after soaking them in a bowl (we also occasionally used paper plates.) Encouraged him to make sure his room was well ventilated. Fortunately he had the family bathroom to himself while the rest of us used our ensuite/downstairs loo. We know we were lucky to be able to do that. Also lucky that it was the less transmissible variant as the Kent one was only just taking off then. All a bit of a faff, but it worked for us.