Colleague has come into work sick…

[theycallmeuser]

My colleague came in to work yesterday absolutely full of cold, coughing and sneezing.

She’s again come in today. She says she’s done lateral flows and they are negative!!

Would I be unreasonable to go home?!

I am one desk away from her. So about 5/6 meters.

According to the NHS a continuous cough means “means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)”

I mean, the original shielding list was 2.2 million, and 28% of those worked, which is over 600,000 people. With 30m workers, that's one in 50 workers being on the original shielding list, lots of whom now have no choice but to go out to work and share space with the germy splutterers. It's not some rare status only belonging to the already-moribund.

Then you've got the people who were only added to the shielding list later under a more sophisticated set of criteria to bump them up the vaccine queue, the "clinically vulnerable" who weren't CEV but whose deaths from Covid get handwaved because they had underlying conditions so must've been practically at death's door anyway, workers over fifty who aren't otherwise CV but are still at much higher risk than younger people…

Loads of people have that "massive backstory" if you want to put it like that.

I had 4 negative LFTs and then a positive PCR...

Most people on a current thread for the double jabbed with covid had a range of symptoms. The 'big 3' were the least common at the outset. Luckily we all tested ourselves.

I have a horrible cold, did both lateral flow and PCR tests, both negative. Loads of colds going around at the moment. Not sure that your colleague is doing anything wrong tbh

Delta symptoms are just like a cold. The official symptoms haven’t been updated to reflect this.

If I were her employer I’d be asking her to take a PCR test

NotPersephone, I'm saying that being in one of the categories you described is pretty common, not a "massive backstory". Even if OP isn't in one of those groups, chances are someone at her workplace is.

She should have a PCR for everyone’s peace of mind. LFTs are for those who are symptomless.

How infuriating , and completely incorrect of the cougher and your boss. Any temperature or cough( caused by illness rather than something going down the wrong way or asthma) or loss of taste warrants a PCR . This hasn't changed since testing was available. We need to be more cautious now as there are other symptoms eg D&v and cold symptoms which can also signify Covid-19.

@theycallmeuser

Her cough is one an hour or so. Isn’t that continuous?!

I've had a continuous cough - maybe it was covid I don't know, it was back in February 2020 before testing. I coughed and coughed and couldn't stop. For an hour or more at a time, and to the point of being nearly sick. Once an hour isn't continuous. It sounds like a cold and without a continuous cough (or other covid symptoms) she isn't eligible for a PCR.

Everyone getting uppity above ECV & germs in the workplace. My mum is like top end ECV & she hates this narrative that people should behave differently to protect her. She is adamant she can make her own risk assessments & that young people shouldn’t be sacrificing education & life for her.

She has always had to take risks. A cold could technically kill her. An ear infection nearly did a few years ago when it went septic & she has a severely compromised immune system. It’s been her life for years & yet she’s still lived it. She was a HV before she retired & worked in a germy doctors surgery, in & out of people homes seeing germy young children. She’s always been anal about hand washing & kept her distance from those she knows to be ill, including us as her family. When she had grandkids, the childcare she provided was another risk to her. But she refused to not see her grandkids when they had 100 colds a winter. Another life v risk balance she’s had to make.

Now she’s vaccinated, she’s firmly in the corner that covid is no different. She’s the biggest advocate for life getting back to normal & if she feels she needs to be more careful, isolate etc then she will make that choice. Not anyone else. 🤷🏼‍♀️

OP- if it’s that big of desk, feign illness yourself & say you’ll WFH this afternoon!

You want to go home because someone has a cold at work?

People really need to start getting a grip.

When I had delta I was only coughing once every 1-2 hours, it wasn't continuous at all.

I did have all the other symptoms too though.

If I have a cough/cold, I will be expected in work in September and will be teaching hundreds of children every week. That is how things will be.

I currently have a heavy cold and will have to go into work tomorrow because if not, I won't have enough money to live on. Plus, I will piss off my employer and colleagues because they will have to cover me. 🤷‍♀️

Yeah this is the bugger of it — vulnerability to Covid is common, coughs and colds are common, and both vulnerable people and people with colds have to suck it up and go into work anyway. Which is why people need to take precautions, and get a PCR test if possible. Germy Colleague meets the continuous cough criterion as defined by the NHS so should have taken a PCR test and is hopefully being considerate to try and avoid spreading her disease, whether it's Covid or the common cold.

Schools returning should be fun. Anyone else remember all the schools sending home the pupils with colds and not letting them come back for 10-14 days, sometimes even with a negative test result?
Guess it's going to be happening all over again....

I do think you’re being unreasonable OP. Colds are part of life, and we can’t all stop off work because we’ve got a cold! I was in the original shielded group so I do understand covid concerns however as a teacher I’ve been at work since last September and have been exposed to plenty of coughs and colds! As a teacher I obviously can’t work from home so if I have a cold I would expect to go to work …

@Imalittleteapotshortandstout

Schools returning should be fun. Anyone else remember all the schools sending home the pupils with colds and not letting them come back for 10-14 days, sometimes even with a negative test result? Guess it's going to be happening all over again....

Nope. Things have changed and there are no self-isolation periods any more. Lateral flow tests will be stopping as well. We are just going to be pretending covid has vanished.

Every single person I've known who has had covid symptoms and a positive PCR has tested positive on a LFT with symptoms prior to this.

Likewise the negatives.

I've not known anyone who's has conflicting results. (I know it happens but I don't think it's that common?)

I did .. said so upthread... 4 negatives on LFT followed by a +PCR. Was definitely doing the LFTs properly!