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Original poster

Made to feel bad

29 replies

Covidoutcast · 23/07/2021 12:46

For testing positive for Covid.

Throughout this I have been adhering to the rules, washing and sanitising my hands, mask etc.

I have worked from home throughout.

I am double vaccinated.

Except Monday we were all called back into the office for a meeting and bbq (40 or so people, all outside) and today I have tested positive (symptoms started Wednesday night, PCR test yesterday, results this morning). I took a LFT Monday morning which was negative.

My DC broke up from school on Tuesday and so my MIL looked after them on Wednesday whilst I WFH so she is a close contact and is spitting feathers.

DH is bemoaning how he is going to work with the DC at home (they were booked in at holiday club next week, money lost and we are all stuck indoors).

Work have sent a snotty email round about how we must all take care (and they are shitting themselves that everyone is going to be track and traced, our office will have to close). Plus they named me as being the person positive - that isn't right, is it?

I don't feel too bad from the Covid but the guilt! I feel so bad for everyone this affects. I can actually see why people don't test/ isolate.

I haven't been contacted by track and trace yet - will they just ask for my work details rather than me listing everyone I work with? I wasn't in close proximity to them all.

OP posts:
dementedpixie · 23/07/2021 12:50

You could have picked it up from someone at the bbq that was asymptomatic so it's not necessarily you that's given it to them. And no they shouldn't have said it was you

beattieedny · 23/07/2021 12:52

Your work have been completely out of order naming you! Shocking. Don't feel guilty fgs, it's a highly transmissible virus. Rest up, and get well soon.

Rosehip10 · 23/07/2021 12:52

Surely they should have just said "a staff member". The fact someone has a illness of any sort is personal medical information which should never be shared without permission.

Original poster
Covidoutcast · 23/07/2021 12:58

How quickly do you get symptoms after being exposed? I was working on the basis that Wednesday would be too soon if I caught it on Monday.

OP posts:
dementedpixie · 23/07/2021 13:08

2-14 days apparently but then you are also contagious before symptoms start

fedup078 · 23/07/2021 13:24

Wow they really shouldn't have done that you could probably cause a lot of trouble for them for breaching confidentially if you wished

This is exactly what I'm worried about at the moment though. Like you say the guilt, 'Covid shaming' and the social implications which go with testing positive . I'm worried I will cause a friend to cancel a holiday or something and they'll blame me etc etc etc

I'm more worried about this kind of thing than getting ill from it now

TraumatizedFlower · 23/07/2021 13:32

You could have got it elsewhere... supermarkets?

Cattitudes · 23/07/2021 13:34

It is definitely not your fault. Work should not have named you. You might have even caught it at the BBQ. It is just the previous 48hrs so depending on when the BBQ ended on Monday it might not even fall within that time. Work took a risk organising a day in the office and BBQ for so many people. I would probably email around and clarify that your lateral flow was negative on Monday, you probably were not contagious on Monday but will take advice from track and trace and it is possible that you caught the virus on Monday at the meeting due to the incubating period which can be as short as 2 days so it is worth everyone testing to be sure.

For MIL it is the contact with you that counts not with your dc so it depends if she was close to you in terms of her self isolating however if I were her even if not officially a contact I would keep a low profile and avoid anyone vulnerable.

Dh can just concentrate on looking after you rather than moaning about it. To avoid long covid it is important to rest and take it easy for now. There are more important things in life than his work.

Mindymomo · 23/07/2021 13:37

That’s really not on naming you in person, although people work it out who it is, they should not. I would send a angry email. It’s possible you contracted covid at the bbq. I’m afraid people are angry when they know they’ve been in contact with someone whose tested positive and it really messes with people’s plans.

sempiternal · 23/07/2021 13:41

Yeah I'm fairly certain they're not meant to name you!

sol7 · 23/07/2021 13:42

Good grief, this sort of reaction by others is just going to make people less likely to test. I would raise a complaint about being named - that is confidential medical information.

freckles20 · 23/07/2021 13:46

I'm sorry this has happened @Covidoutcast.

Naming you is absolutely wrong. As is the implication that Covid positive people have not been careful! So many of us could catch it whilst doing things that are pretty unavoidable such as taking public transport, caring for our children, shopping in the supermarket or chemist, attending a medical appointment- the list is endless.

I hope you feel better soon Thanks.

fedup078 · 23/07/2021 13:48

@freckles20 or being asking to attend a work meeting / bbq as I bet that's where the op picked it up

marieantoinehairnet · 23/07/2021 13:54

Your work are out of order, you COUlD have got it at their bloody BBQ!

Original poster
Covidoutcast · 23/07/2021 14:18

I am not sure the work bbq was the cause - it's the impact on everyone there that is the issue for me. The meeting was 6-8pm and the bbq finished quite late, 11pm. I started feeling shivery and had a fever from around 6-7pm on Wednesday, maybe earlier but I was busy running around in 29 degree heat to notice. I also had a bit of a runny nose and I later realised that I had lost my sense of taste.

MIL was in my house all day on Wednesday, we had lunch together and I drove her home in the late afternoon (about 20 mins together in the car).

I have been to other places, mainly outside though as the weather has been nice. I used the train and tube to get to work too. Tbh it is pointless trying to pinpoint where I got it from but I feel like people are really upset with me and that they think I am dirty or something 😞

DH is just panicking, he is looking after me. I am holed up in our bedroom and he is going to camp in with DS. He has taken a LFT which is negative but I think he will also be invited for a PCR test by track and trace, won't he?

How long until track and trace contact me? I am really scared about what they will say about my colleagues, will it just be that I have to give them my bosses' info or will they want the full list of 40+ people? Quite a lot of them are young and were so excited about going on holidays and to gigs and festivals. I feel AWFUL that they are going to have to cancel just as they got their freedom.

My DC are very sweet, they keep bringing me drinks and posting art work under my door. At least they lift my spirits!

OP posts:
Original poster
Covidoutcast · 23/07/2021 14:30

Fuck I am working myself up about this. I shouldn't have got tested. I could have self isolated and just not told anyone/ done anything official.

MIL has just messaged to say she is going to STARVE because Ocado have no available delivery slots. I hadn't even thought of that 😬

OP posts:
Darbs76 · 23/07/2021 14:35

Shocking your work named you in an email, that’s a breach of data protection. I’d be sending a very stern email. Clearly you caught it from someone else there. They shouldn’t be having big gatherings if they don’t want to take the risk of an outbreak. Restrictions might have eased but the virus is still out there. I have Covid right now, caught from my son, wouldn’t dream of blaming him. I’m missing lots of things too, at the end of the day I just want to get better. Definitely put a complaint in to your work

Darbs76 · 23/07/2021 14:39

Of course you should have got tested. If you didn’t imagine how many more people this will be passed to. I’m sure someone can order some food for your mother in law or drop some off. They are being ridiculous being angry with you

lannistunut · 23/07/2021 14:47

@Covidoutcast

How quickly do you get symptoms after being exposed? I was working on the basis that Wednesday would be too soon if I caught it on Monday.
Delta is much faster.

Don't feel guilty - tbh this is bound to happen with the government policies. Ultimately, they are to blame.

Disgusting that your work named you.

Get well soon Flowers

lannistunut · 23/07/2021 14:48

@Covidoutcast

Fuck I am working myself up about this. I shouldn't have got tested. I could have self isolated and just not told anyone/ done anything official.

MIL has just messaged to say she is going to STARVE because Ocado have no available delivery slots. I hadn't even thought of that 😬

Would have been completely irresponsible not to test.

Your mil sounds like an arse.

How are you personally to blame when unlucky enough to live on Johnson's plague island???

Lemons1571 · 23/07/2021 14:53

All these people who are reacting like this and expressing it to you need to fucking grow up. It’s a virus. It spreads like a virus. Are they all intellectually challenged not to understand this?

You need a new employer. One with integrity and some intelligence.

sol7 · 23/07/2021 15:01

Your workplace are probably being defensive because they know it's most likely you caught it there and they didn't have any safety measures in place. They cannot ask you to be careful - according to our government you are allowed to go out freely and do as you please now.

We had a positive household test at the beginning of the week. Test and trace contacted the next day. They were really only interested in who had been inside the house. This was for a child though, so no workplace involved.

Karwomannghia · 23/07/2021 15:09

It’s awful how you’ve been treated. It was the same in schools, because as a member of staff if you dared to test positive, you’d ending up sending a load of children home and making them and at least some of their family isolate, and contact with other members of staff meant they would too. My friend got it and she felt more ill from the stress!
It just takes people a while to get their head around it, they’ll chill out soon and no doubt others will get it. Your work and your mum are being ridiculous. Most of the MPs have had it- what does that say about them?

Cattitudes · 23/07/2021 15:52

@Covidoutcast

Fuck I am working myself up about this. I shouldn't have got tested. I could have self isolated and just not told anyone/ done anything official.

MIL has just messaged to say she is going to STARVE because Ocado have no available delivery slots. I hadn't even thought of that 😬

Do you have any good friends who would be willing to do a click and collect for you and MIL? I know I have offered to be on call for a few people I know who are isolating.
marieantoinehairnet · 23/07/2021 15:54

@Covidoutcast

Fuck I am working myself up about this. I shouldn't have got tested. I could have self isolated and just not told anyone/ done anything official.

MIL has just messaged to say she is going to STARVE because Ocado have no available delivery slots. I hadn't even thought of that 😬

She's being a martyr, is she usually a martyr?

She needs to grow up, it's not your fault and that's how viruses work

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