Test & Trace calls

[Stevie77]

Is there a legal to answer their calls when isolating?

Quite frankly, they’re doing my head in and I don’t want to speak to them anymore but they’ve rung 3 times today so far and I’m guessing won’t stop calling until I speak to them. It’s harassment.

It is all scripted. What they say depends on your symptoms or response.

I must say, being rude isn't the answer. They're taught to objection handle and most days, I came off calls crying. The people doing check up calls are call centre staff and its their first full time job. They don't want to be harassing you any more than you want to be harassed.

Honestly, I advise everyone just to block the number. You won't get in trouble, it'll just go to voicemail and you just get left an automated one. Just delete it. There were quite a few I called that had obviously blocked and nothing happened. You're not refusing to isolate, you just don't want the calls
You're able to do that

I have had to isolate twice , 1st time i had covid , said i did not wish to engage or give contact details ( i conformed fully with work , family, isolation )asked them to not call again and they didn't .
2nd time child positive -asked them to not call again , 2 further calls ! one telling me it was illegal to not engage , changed tact when i asked her politely the legalities .
It is bad enough being ill or isolating when your not ill without being harassed .
I will not be giving anyone's private details out to a government run concern i have no faith in .
Especially when being given contradictory advice ie isolation dates.

I didn’t receive any calls yesterday so thought that would be the end of it. This morning I have received a letter from the local council informing me that they need to speak to me about my health and the places I have been to.

T&T are a nightmare. I'm going to tell them tomorrow I don't agree to them sharing my data with all and sundry. I've had enough! 🤦🏻‍♀️🙄😬

I hear positive cases are rung every few days but are their contacts rung up so frequently too once they’ve been told to isolate?

Also if contacts can’t be traced by phone so people call round to the contacts house?

Just answer the phone. It only takes 5 mins. We had 4-5 calls each( DH and I). over the 10days so one call a day roughly, I don't remember it being that onerous!

Ignoring them is pretty childish and they just call lots times anyway , so you get disturbed more than necessary

My OH and i just back from an amber country so today is day 1 of quarantine. We were on one of the Greek Islands that has had 7 cases of the virus in the last 4 weeks.

We are double-jabbled, took a LFT the day before we went (negative), tested on arrival at our location (negative), tested 6 days later before boarding to come home (negative). Day 2 test tomorrow, day 5 Test to Release and then Day 8 test to come - whoopee!

We got back just before midnight last night. Phone call this morning from T&T about 10am. I had the phone in my hand as I was on a video call to my son. In the time it took me to tell him I'd have to ring him back they'd rung off. No message left.

My OH got a call about an hour later. He was standing next to his phone in the kitchen and again, by the time he picked it up to answer it, they'd rung off. They left him a message to say they'd ring back tomorrow.

Honestly, the whole thing seems like a massive waste of everyone's time and money. I'm seriously tempted not to bother with the isolation as it's all out the window in a week's time anyway. I will do it but it doesn't feel like there's much point to it.

Oh well, tomorrow we get to leave the house as we have to drive for half an hour to get our tests. That'll be something to look forward to! Honestly, what a shitshow!

@Frazzled2207

Wow. So if we speak to them do they then lay off? Or keep calling? To check you've not left the house?

I do wonder what the point is when it's clearly spreading so quickly anyway

Both my DDs, DS and I have tested positive on various days this week. I've only spoken to them once after each confirmed positive to confirm symptoms, personal details, who lives in the house, if we have been in contact with anyone else between certain dates and that's it. They've only rang the once after each positive but when I was on several Zoom calls the other day after my DS tested positive they did ring a few times and leave a voicemail saying they would ring back

In December when I was a contact, they asked me for my birth date and I asked why they need to know that. The operator really couldn't give me an answer.

I still don't know why they would need to know that. I hadn't tested positive. The operator told me I was being obstructive. I probably was and I did feel sorry for her, it's a crap job and they are working through their script, but in an era when we have to be careful with our data I was really uncomfortable sharing it.

ilook

Where you contacted repeatedly as a contact or just the once to advise isolation? Can’t work out if the repeated calls to isolate are for everyone or just the original positive case?

Does anyone know if you can dispute a contact? Dd thinks her colleague will name her maliciously even tho they don’t work near each other (dd was invited to an event her colleague wasn’t and colleague recently tested positive)

How do you know it is test and trace? Does it show on your called ID?

It's an 0300 number. My SIL tested positive and said she hadn't been contacted, when she found out it was an 0300 number she realised she'd been ignoring all the calls thinking they were marketing ones!

So I now live in dread of 0300.

@bumblingbovine49

Just answer the phone. It only takes 5 mins. We had 4-5 calls each( DH and I). over the 10days so one call a day roughly, I don't remember it being that onerous!

Ignoring them is pretty childish and they just call lots times anyway , so you get disturbed more than necessary

My mobile is usually turned down so they'd only get me if I happened to see the screen light up!

Do they do the stupid security questions that companies do when they call you? I refuse to give my details if someone calls me so we end up going around in circles!

I blocked the number in the end. I knew I was isolating as required, I didn't need to repeat the same conversation every day.

I was trying to work (no symptoms, negative test, vaccinated) and I found it utterly pointless and irritating. If I wasn't planning to isolate no amount of phone calls would have changed that.

I've deleted the app now too.

DS tested positive earlier in the week. T&T phoned him to get list of contacts. Beyond that we haven't had a single phone call. We have had texts to tell us to self isolate for 10 days but that's it. Am thinking they are a bit busy!!!