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Original poster

What to do if you don't agree with being told to self isolate??

133 replies

jaychops · 03/06/2021 09:09

Colleague of DHs has tested positive and provided DHs details to track and trace as a close contact. However, he doesn't meet the criteria for close contact - he hasn't been under 1m, and not within 2m for more than a couple of minutes. We are supposed to be going away this weekend! What do we do? Has anyone been in this position?

OP posts:
strangeshapedpotato · 03/06/2021 12:00

@rookiemere

Anyone know holiday insurance that covers for this ? I've only got UK trips booked but it would be a real blow not to be able to go and at less getting the money back would be something.
Yes most insurance now covers for this - you need to check your policy, but seems pretty standard now.
freckles20 · 03/06/2021 12:02

Notifications via the app aren't enforced or enforceable. IMO morally you should follow them as if everyone erred on the side of caution the spread while slow.

Phone contact via track and trace telling you to isolate is legally enforceable. In our case we were also contacted three times by phone and twice in person to check we were isolating.

It is very frustrating if you feel sure that there has been an error. Realistically though, it isn't possible for T&T to second guess and verify information passed to them by a positive case. There are bound to be some errors. Again IMO the right thing to do is to isolate anyway- if everyone did as they were asked then the spread would slow.

There's no way of removing these errors. Although they could make it a crime to give incorrect details, which might concentrate people's minds a little.

dopeyduck · 03/06/2021 12:02

And this is why I wouldn't ever use the app and I never will.
I always provide my details for track and trace but the app is beyond useless.

A friend had to isolate because her upstairs neighbour (flats) tested positive so their phones were in range but at the time she was WFH and hadn't left her home for 5 days.

There's countless stories of this.

Only he knows if there was really no chance he could have been in contact with someone or if he's being economical with the truth because you want to go away.

It's your own personal responsibility and conscious weather you follow the direction to isolate. It's about time people started being responsible for their own actions and make sure they are not putting others at risk.

strangeshapedpotato · 03/06/2021 12:02

@Faithless12

lso the nonsense of “still having to isolate because of those who are vulnerable refuse the vaccine”

Huh?

How about having to self isolate, to reduce the spread of the virus, thereby protecting the vulnerable who are either unable to take the vaccine or for whom it doesn't fucking work!

In the immunocompromised, vaccine efficacy is around 0-20%.

PurpleDaisies · 03/06/2021 12:05

The app isn’t legally binding @dopeyduck

dopeyduck · 03/06/2021 12:07

@PurpleDaisies I think OP has been contacted via phone not app.
I don’t use the app

Original poster
jaychops · 03/06/2021 12:14

My goodness! Of course we are going to do the responsible thing. I am a health professional, I've given hundreds of covid vaccinations, I'd read the guidance on the NHS and government website and wondered if anyone else has been in this position and contacted someone to discuss, as we were unsure.

No he has not been in close contact. I was quoting the guidance.

Of course he will isolate of there's a need. After 12 months of treating covid patients I think I'm more aware than most. We will be rearranging the weekend away.

Thanks to those who gave helpful advice.

OP posts:
DarcyLewis · 03/06/2021 12:18

What was his contact with his colleague? Was he in the same room as him for an extended period or just popped in once and stayed 2m away?
Both wearing masks?

MangosteenSoda · 03/06/2021 12:20

I didn’t realise the app wasn’t legally binding.

My cousin got told to isolate due to the app. She assumed someone from work must have tested positive, but no one had. She hadn’t been anywhere else and certainly nowhere where she would have been in proximity to anyone for long enough. No restaurants, either indoors or out, no public transport or taxis, not even shopping as she gets deliveries.

The only thing we can think of is perhaps someone in a neighbouring car when sitting in traffic. It’s not the next door neighbour through the wall or over the garden fence.

I think I’d be furious if that happened to me as I have really kept restricting what I do in order to not have to isolate with my autistic child. My cousin doesn’t mind as she has no dependents and can take the time off work Grin

PurpleDaisies · 03/06/2021 12:22

[quote dopeyduck]@PurpleDaisies I think OP has been contacted via phone not app.
I don’t use the app[/quote]
Yes but you were saying this is why you would never use the app. That was what I was responding to.

HowCanHeFindIt · 03/06/2021 12:56

My DH is currently on his last day of a 9 day isolation after being pinged by T&T. It is what it is.
We've got a holiday to the USA booked for September. Assuming the holiday can go ahead and T&T is still in existence, we will all be isolating for 2 weeks before just in case. Lesson learned.

rookiemere · 03/06/2021 13:11

As a result of thinking through the implications of this I've now bought insurance cover that covers you if you're required to self isolate through track and trace meaning you can't go away.

It's also made me nervous about meeting anyone inside where I've got to leave details- or indeed outdoors.

We can only hope the vaccines work their magic and we can be freed from this half life in the not too distant future.

MargosKaftan · 03/06/2021 14:22

OP - if you dont think your dh meets the criteria, do call 119 and check if he does. If he hasn't been in close contact for any length of time it could be a mistake. A friend similarly tested positive and didn't speak to anyone on the phone at first, she was just sent a link to fill in the details of the people she'd been in contact with. It wasn't clear from what she'd been sent if she should be listing only the people she'd definitely had long (over 15 mins) contact with and under 2m or just everyone.

Before you cancel, see if he does actually need to isolate!

Miljea · 03/06/2021 14:29

I'd ignore it, too.

My hospital Trust asked all the workers to take the App off their phones. We had so many incidents of staff being told they were a contact thus had to isolate- when they'd attended to a Covid patient while dressed in full PPE.

How on earth that happened, I don't know, but it more or less shut our CT unit down.

Faithless12 · 03/06/2021 14:34

[quote strangeshapedpotato]@Faithless12

lso the nonsense of “still having to isolate because of those who are vulnerable refuse the vaccine”

Huh?

How about having to self isolate, to reduce the spread of the virus, thereby protecting the vulnerable who are either unable to take the vaccine or for whom it doesn't fucking work!

In the immunocompromised, vaccine efficacy is around 0-20%.[/quote]
Did you read my response before deciding to attack me?

Just in case it wasn’t clear. I totally agree with you. My statement was that there are some vulnerable people who are unable to have the vaccine for a multitude of reasons.

PurpleDaisies · 03/06/2021 15:25

@Miljea

I'd ignore it, too.

My hospital Trust asked all the workers to take the App off their phones. We had so many incidents of staff being told they were a contact thus had to isolate- when they'd attended to a Covid patient while dressed in full PPE.

How on earth that happened, I don't know, but it more or less shut our CT unit down.

How many times?

It isn’t the app. It’s test and trace. Legally they are totally different.

osbertthesyrianhamster · 03/06/2021 15:31

This is why I don't have any more details registered with this. My phone is ancient anyhow. I'd go anyway.

RockingMyFiftiesNot · 03/06/2021 15:36

I'd refuse to isolate. Go, on holiday. What's the worst that can happen?

My friend's DS works in a school and had to isolate when a child in his class tested positive, Friend's DS was adamant he'd not been in close contact with the child but reluctantly isolated. Within the week, in spite of being insistent he'd not had any contact, he developed symptoms and tested positive. Had he ignored the instruction to isolate, he'd have infected other people. And so it continues to spread and impact us all.

THAT's the worst that can happen.

PurpleDaisies · 03/06/2021 15:38

This is why I don't have any more details registered with this.

Registers with what? Test and trace don’t need you to register to contact you.

RockingMyFiftiesNot · 03/06/2021 15:42

@osbertthesyrianhamster

This is why I don't have any more details registered with this. My phone is ancient anyhow. I'd go anyway.
Irresponsible attitude - but as PP said, you don't need the app for track and trace to contact you.
RockingMyFiftiesNot · 03/06/2021 15:43

Test and trace I should have said

osbertthesyrianhamster · 03/06/2021 15:44

@PurpleDaisies

This is why I don't have any more details registered with this.

Registers with what? Test and trace don’t need you to register to contact you.

Well good luck doing that as I rarely carry my mobile around and we have no landline. Don't work outside the home, either. Really couldn't give a toss about this anymore so wouldn't bother isolating anyhow.
osbertthesyrianhamster · 03/06/2021 15:46

I don't give a fuck about the 'irresponsible' 'selfish' blether anymore, either.

LadyPenelope68 · 03/06/2021 15:51

@osbertthesyrianhamster

And attitudes like yours are the reason this bloody virus isn’t going away.

Sausageroll67 · 03/06/2021 15:53

@applespearslemons

I'd get a test and then go anyway if it's negative. Did it
Jesus Christ.

1-Tests are if you are symptomatic, stop wasting them!

2- It can take 10 days for Covid to appear in a close contact

We are never getting out of this mess with you and some of the other twit's opinions in this thread alone!