No need to isolate worrying me.

[Bellabelloo]

The girl I sit next to at work has a sister who she's just been on holiday with, 7 hour car journey, shared a room, live together, tested positive yesterday. She did a PCR today, negative, so is now allowed to come to work. I feel a bit uncomfortable about this, but guess it's the 'new normal'. How would you feel?

People living in the house with someone testing positive isolate for 10 days great way to fuck up another yr of education and damage our economy even further

@Savannahnanana

It wouldn’t worry me at all. We need to get back to some sort of normality. How long would you like this to drag on for?

until everyone's been offered their second jab? We're not exactly far off it now, it seems a bit mad to introduce this now.

Of course, it may be a gamble that pays off - in which case, great. But it seems like a very high risk approach.

@MiddleParking Oh so it's airborne? How comforting. Do you hear that OP, don't bother wiping anything down then since all the virus stays in the air and never settles.

Anyway, my point to OP remains, let others 'get on with it' or whatever, just protect yourself. That's exactly what I have to do.

" She did a PCR today, negative, so is now allowed to come to work. I feel a bit uncomfortable about this, but guess it's the 'new normal'. How would you feel"

I think everyone has to get used to the idea that everyone will get infected sooner or later. Some people had to resign themselves to catching it pre vaccine and some people need to accept it now albeit vaccines now swing the odds in our favour.

I take it you have not had covid yet. It is quite common for double jabbed people to get it and no doubt eventually people will catch it multiple times.

But it’s not the flu or other virus though and can’t be compared

Of course it can be compared. It’s a nasty virus that can make people seriously ill or kill them, but that we now have vaccines for and effective treatments. Like many other nasty viruses.

[quote JayDot500]@MiddleParking Oh so it's airborne? How comforting. Do you hear that OP, don't bother wiping anything down then since all the virus stays in the air and never settles.

Anyway, my point to OP remains, let others 'get on with it' or whatever, just protect yourself. That's exactly what I have to do.[/quote]
Do you not believe that it’s airborne?

@MiddleParking sarcasm

@Waxonwaxoff0

If it's negative PCR I wouldn't be concerned. I currently have Covid and DS tested negative, we live in the same house. He is isolating with me though due to only being 8! I wouldn't trust a LFT.

Perhaps she should do another one in a couple of days too.

@Waxonwaxoff0 - sorry to hear you have covid currently. How are you feeling?

I do think that we have reached a stage where isolating is never coming back in such a large scale. However, if I’d been exposed I’d just be a bit more careful and take regular tests every day.

I appreciate its worrying though if you have to work with someone in quite close proximity. Just try to stay away from them and wear a mask. Also improve ventilation as much as possible.

Wouldn't worry me. Never has. I've worked the entire time in a place of work where I've never been able to know if the people I work with have covid.

I'm glad these are the rules now. The world needs to carry on as normal now.

What can be done though. Government have rewarded vaccinated people with the opportunity to get out of isolating. People will take it. Non vaccinated people will still be isolating. A much 'safer' approach (if the word 'safe' has any meaning anymore in this context). Intended as a bit of punishment no doubt for not doing 'the right thing'. You can't keep on crippling businesses though can you.

For infection control (and if that was the only concern) then yes household contacts isolating for 10 days is the wise and sensible thing to do.
But if you are self employed or cant wfh then taking 10 days off when you are not unwell is not always the obvious thing to do when you have bills to pay and a business to keep afloat.
I think a lot of people overlook the luxury of being able to isolate for 10 days without significant financial consequence.

@FloFloFloFloFlo thank you. I'm not feeling too bad, I felt worst on Tuesday night with a raging temperature, blocked nose, phlegmy cough. All classic cold symptoms. I've stopped coughing as much now and my temperature is normal. Completely lost all sense of smell and taste though, it's the strangest thing, I was stood in the kitchen sniffing the pepper pot desperately trying to get it back! I'm on my 4th day of isolation but I think around the 7th day of actually contracting Covid based on the person I likely caught it from.

It is absolutely bonkers. I’m a childminder & like the pp who works in healthcare, I can’t work it a member of my family gets covid which is fair enough. However I’m allowed to care for children if someone they live with has covid!?? No, not in my setting. Sorry. I’m not risking my family & the families I look after. It’s a ridiculous rule.

I think we need a shift in attitude towards aiming to keep people out of hospital rather then keep case numbers low. This has always been the point of isolations. High numbers of vaccinated people should achieve this without keeping actual case numbers down. Those who are double jabbed need to understand they will get it but are extremely unlikely to be seriously ill.

We can't continue to destroy the economy so people who only have cold symptoms for a couple of days (like I and my family did) are confined to the house for almost a month.

Like other teachers I am going f to find it weird that if DH or my 2 DC’s contract Covid I can go to work where I have close contact with around 150 students (not including those who I’ll pass in corridors/mix with when I’m duty etc) and they will be unvaccinated.

@FflosFfantastig

What can be done though. Government have rewarded vaccinated people with the opportunity to get out of isolating. People will take it. Non vaccinated people will still be isolating. A much 'safer' approach (if the word 'safe' has any meaning anymore in this context). Intended as a bit of punishment no doubt for not doing 'the right thing'. You can't keep on crippling businesses though can you.

Will non vaccinated people be isolating though? Or will they ignore this requirement?

@Mumski45

I think we need a shift in attitude towards aiming to keep people out of hospital rather then keep case numbers low. This has always been the point of isolations. High numbers of vaccinated people should achieve this without keeping actual case numbers down. Those who are double jabbed need to understand they will get it but are extremely unlikely to be seriously ill.

We can't continue to destroy the economy so people who only have cold symptoms for a couple of days (like I and my family did) are confined to the house for almost a month.

Agree, I am single jabbed and Covid hasn't been bad for me (30 years old) just what you'd expect from a moderate cold. I've said all along I'm not scared of catching Covid and I anticipated getting it at some point. A bit annoying that I caught it just as I was due my second jab so had to postpone it but hey. I don't mind isolating as I don't want to spread it but I think most of us need to accept that we will get it at some point.

I have 8yo DS living with me, I haven't even attempted to social distance from him, he either hasn't caught it or is completely asymptomatic, he has not felt ill and I've been monitoring his temperature which has been normal the entire time. He is isolating with me anyway as I'm a single parent but it's been very reassuring to me that he has been fine.

@Woolver23

It's one thing not isolating when someone you had one lunch with comes down the 'rona. But (in my view) quite another when you're returning home every day to share a kitchen, a bathroom, maybe even a bed, with the sick person. I feel that the household members of a sick person should definitely still be isolating but the government says not.

I agree. The pingdemic stuff snd whole classed sent home to isolate was too much but household isolation should still stand even if they reduced it to 7 days. I don't want my unvaccinated child say next to someone who's parents or siblings have active covid! The delta varient is more risky for children.

When my children get covid I will still be ‘allowed’ to go to work in an unventilated room with no masks at all and no possibility of socially distancing from 30 unvaccinated people. Then I’ll have a different 30 unvaccinated people in the room each hour for five hours. It’s total and utter madness, and won’t help bring back any sort of normality

This.

It will spread so quickly in the school community.

In my sector, where I am lucky enough to receive sick pay the new rules actually create a situation which favours those who choose not to be vaccinated. If I (as a fully vaccinated person) have a family member with covid I must now go into work. If my unvaccinated colleague's family member tests positive they MUST not come into work and can receive full sick pay. Yes they are disadvantaged as they have to isolate, but they can receive their salary whilst not being at work. I can see this causing conflict in my team as those who have been vaccinated will have to work whilst unvaccinated people will continue to be absent. This seems somehow unfair and puts extra burden in those who choose to vaccinate. It also causes issues around employers knowing vaccination status.

I don't think so. They've got to haven't they? It's not choice as far as I can see.

Sorry that was a reply to @freckles20

Well, I’m delighted the isolation rules have gone. Thank god life is more normal. I only I’ll catch covid again at some point & my kids. It is what it is. I’m vaccinated so all good. Much like I sit dreading norovirus every winter, I don’t feel any different about covid.

@JayDot500

I'm also worried about these scenarios, but I've come to terms with people just not caring enough about others around them who might be vulnerable. Some will recognise that they might later turn positive and wear a masks etc, but others just won't be bothered and will say you're overreacting. So, if possible, figure out what you can do to protect yourself.

It’s not necessary about not caring. A lot of employers won’t allow people to have time off to isolate when they don’t legally need to, so they won’t have any choice

@FflosFfantastig

I don't think so. They've got to haven't they? It's not choice as far as I can see.

Hmm I'm not so sure. They are definitely supposed to isolate, but huge numbers of people just haven't followed rules / laws / guidance and I think that will continue to be the case in the unvaccinated population.