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Original poster

Covid positive family next door accidentally threw ball into my tiny garden

185 replies

StuffCovid · 03/08/2021 11:36

It bounced and rolled.I'm CEV.

Do I:

  1. Chuck it back and ask then not to kick the ball against my fence but on the other side to the non-CEV neighbours!
  2. Say nothing, but wear gloves and then wash my hands thoroughly and spray the grass with dettol kitchen spray
  3. Put a knife in it, and bin it, like DH suggests
  4. Stroll out there and simply chuck it back and don't worry, it's outdoors, just wash my hands with soap and that's it.

PS, I wouldn't really take option 3, it must be hard for them being cooped up for 10 days over the summer holiday.

OP posts:
Sparklingbrook · 03/08/2021 12:57

I feel a bit mean not taking this seriously when I first read it, and now the OP has come back and confirmed they were serious, then I'm trying to look at it from their side IYKWIM.

tanstaafl · 03/08/2021 12:59

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorched_earth

It’s the only solution.

But seriously, throw it back when they’re not going to be on the opposite side of the fence , just to absolutely avoid any airborne transmission.

Thefaceofboe · 03/08/2021 13:01
Hmm
Amirite · 03/08/2021 13:09

I actually dispair reading these kinds of threads, you can feel the fear coming through and I just wonder how you’ll ever be able to live some sort of normal life. Not having a go OP, I appreciate you are scared but I don’t believe this level of fear is normal and suggest you seek some support.

SleepyMathematician · 03/08/2021 13:10
  1. Just throw it back and wash your hands.

I’d be pretty upset if I was married to someone who suggested 3. That’s just mean and nasty. I’m assuming he was a child once?

RightYesButNo · 03/08/2021 13:13

FYI, I want to be clear that I was not laughing AT OP with my last comment. She specified she was never going to do option 3, it was one of those dumb off the cuff comments someone in your house makes probably (especially after worrying about a CEV spouse for so long, and maybe even more worried now with Delta) and yet people are focusing just on that.

I think a lot of healthy people are “fed up” with COVID now and you see them start threads saying things like, “Hooray, I’m not wearing my mask anywhere anymore, fuck that,” or, “I’ve had enough and I’m never locking down again,” and they don’t really think about what it’s like for the CEV; the sheer, overwhelming fear.

I get it, OP. I suppose I’m CEEEV, if possible? (I have a few diseases that make me an absolute shite risk, one of them respiratory AND one of them vascular with increased clotting risk). I got COVID at the very beginning, March 2020. I got my test at the beginning of symptoms, before the worst of them, and called my consultant as soon as I knew I had a positive test. She told me I should probably make sure my will was in order… and also recommended I fill out my medical advanced directive about how long I was willing to be intubated, if I was willing to have a tracheostomy if it came to that, etc. Neither she nor anyone else on my medical team really thought I would survive. I did, amazingly, I’ve now been double-jabbed, but who knows if I’d survive again if I got a different variant.

Being CEV with COVID makes you think differently and sometimes you find yourself doing or thinking things that probably seem totally irrational in hindsight, but when everything is so scary… yes, even a ball can feel like a threat.

All my best to you, OP, and I really do hope that a future occurs soon in which the CEV can go out and about and live their lives just like everyone else. Have some of these Flowers and some of this Gin and absolutely none of this shite: Football
Smile

Hercisback · 03/08/2021 13:14

Your DH sounds like an arse.

You sound terrified of a tiny risk.

Caffeinemonster · 03/08/2021 13:16

I think if you are CEV or live with others that are it’s still very much a worry?

Enough to consider dettoling the grass?!

gardeninggirl68 · 03/08/2021 13:22

It's come home then?

According to football associations and team managers, anything involving a football means covid doesn't happen

The euros and all the travel, hugging,crowds....covid swerves anything to do with football so you'll be fineGrin

RightYesButNo · 03/08/2021 13:23

@Amirite

I actually dispair reading these kinds of threads, you can feel the fear coming through and I just wonder how you’ll ever be able to live some sort of normal life. Not having a go OP, I appreciate you are scared but I don’t believe this level of fear is normal and suggest you seek some support.
I have to say, I would write this message myself if the OP was in completely normal health, and we’ve seen threads from OPs in normal health but with health anxiety that act this way over COVID. However, the OP is CEV, which means it’s quite possible that she’s been warned COVID could be a death sentence for her, and that’s something she has to live with. If OP decides to just “get on” with her life, then she may be making the decision that she’s willing to face an almost guaranteed death if she contracts it, versus even hospitalization being unlikely for most (non-elderly) people. The vaccine seemed extremely promising, but though I try to make my decisions based on scientific studies and the statistics from them (versus politicians’ statements which I know might change), I have to admit that I’m currently waiting to hear more statistics about how it fares against the Delta variant before I live in a very “carefree” manner.
brittleheadgirl · 03/08/2021 13:23

@Caffeinemonster

I think if you are CEV or live with others that are it’s still very much a worry?

Enough to consider dettoling the grass?!

Dh & I have made a concerted effort to lose the 'fear' He was so vulnerable to covid pre vaccination that we lived apart due to my job and dcs being at school.

Shielding has finished for him and he is double vaccinated.
We look at the rates and crucially the figures for those in icu or sadly dying.
The risk is now tiny.
We would still leave the house if their was flu in our area, he is vulnerable to flu but is immunised, so we carry on living life.

I fear the backlash but I can't help thinking some people are still enjoying 'the drama' of lockdown.
I know people, less vulnerable than dh, who are beyond ridiculous about what they can and can't do.

Dh and I are thankful we are back living together and that life is slowly becoming normal'
We're also bloody grateful for the freedom the vaccination gives us.
I just cannot relate to anyone who would 'knife' a football out of fear Hmm

TheLeadbetterLife · 03/08/2021 13:28

Nuke it from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.

Nap1983 · 03/08/2021 13:29

This is a joke… right?

CaitlyntheCactus · 03/08/2021 13:38

@Sparklingbrook

Have any studies been done of 'ball transmission' though?
No ball, but they recently did one of high touch points at railway stations and found no signs of covid.

I'd do 4.

Abraxan · 03/08/2021 13:42

4

I'm CV and fully vaccinated. It wouldn't even cross my mind not to just throw it back. I'd wash my hands afterwards anyway.

Do you not go out and about, and touch things outside ever?

caughtinanet · 03/08/2021 13:43

Whatever you decide to do, do it as quickly as possible. The last thing you want is for them to shout over the fence for their ball back, now that would be an airborne risk Shock

Lostinacloud · 03/08/2021 13:51

CEV or not, what have the government done to people? It’s disgraceful that people are this frightened Angry

Caffeinemonster · 03/08/2021 13:53

@Lostinacloud

CEV or not, what have the government done to people? It’s disgraceful that people are this frightened Angry
I think MN has had as much to do with it as the government. All those treads about quarantining and washing groceries. Bonkers.
Sparklingbrook · 03/08/2021 13:54

I think it might be a case of 'we've come this far let's not catch it now'? All the CEV shielding time all for nothing? I'm just musing, I don't know.

i didn't think the Detolling grass part was completely serious though.

Doublestar · 03/08/2021 13:56

CEV or not, what have the government done to people? It’s disgraceful that people are this frightened angry

Yep. I've only seen my Dm about 4 times since last March - on account of her worrying about her CEV dh dying from covid (they are both double jabbed and have been for some time) she won't even meet in a cafe for a cuppa. I leave them to it but it's mine-boggling to me 🤷‍♀️.

SleepyMathematician · 03/08/2021 13:57

I’m CEV and I still said 4. Whilst I understand the fear and the worry, you have to try to keep these things in proportion or your mental health disappears along with everything else. I’m avoiding very busy places and crowds because they don’t feel safe right now. But a ball in the garden? I’d chuck it back, make a huge effort not to touch my face or anything else, and immediately wash my hands. That seems proportionate to the risk, even with a Covid positive family throwing the ball.

Binnaggy · 03/08/2021 14:00

This reply has been deleted

Withdrawn at the user's request

grapewine · 03/08/2021 14:06

3. Put a knife in it, and bin it, like DH suggests

If he's remotely serious, then your husband has a cruel streak and also needs several grips handed his way.

Weird as fuck.

Twokitstwokats · 03/08/2021 14:06

4

Haffiana · 03/08/2021 14:08

@Sparklingbrook

Have any studies been done of 'ball transmission' though?
The real issue here is wall transmission, and there are surely studies regarding the virus creeping through brick walls. OP lives next door.