Covid recovery: back to the classroom when very tired and weak

[Lowenna1469]

I work in higher education & should be delivering face to face sessions soon, starting next week. After testing positive for Covid, I was admitted to hospital nearly two weeks ago because of very painful and unexplained head and neck ache. A battery of tests later, and I was discharged.

Recovery is slow. I'm very, very tired and very weak and feel as though a cold is brewing. I know I should tell work that at best I can teach online next week. I don't want to rush things at this point but there won't be much sympathy and re-organising the sessions will cause difficulties.

On another thread, I'd be writing AIBU to think that exhaustion and weakness is enough to argue I should pause classroom teaching for a a week or so or, in anyone's experience, does it make little difference to recovery? I go to work by train. Many thanks for any thoughts.

Get a doctor’s note to sign you off sick. You’re ill and you’ll make yourself worse.

You need to be signed off sick. See your GP.

Don't risk long covid by rushing back. Covid is gnarly and you had quite the dose by the sound of it. I do not know how reasonable your employer is but had to been admitted to hospital and not available next week they would have coped. They will cope now.

Thank you, all. Wise advice. The teaching will fall to my colleague (just the two of us in our team). I covered for her once - for just over a year to be precise - but somehow and for no very clear reason other than I have a bit of a guilt complex and am feeling so weak as to not probably be thinking straight, I feel stupid. But, yes, avoiding long Covid has to be the aim.

Also, any shit from your employer and go straight to your trade union. I hope you're feeling better soon

Teachers always feel guilty to some extent, or that they can go on with the show because it’s instilled in us. And with fatigue, you don’t feel in pain so you feel like you should be able to do it if you will yourself but unfortunately it doesn’t work like that. Give yourself a bit of time to get better and you’ll soon be back at it.

Yes, if I'm not OK on Sunday ready to go back Monday, I'm going to phone in sick. A colleague came back after half term for one morning and got signed off again for 2 weeks. Not worth it for the school/college as well as for you.

I have one colleague and one friend who both took about 8 weeks to be able to work full time again. You really need to rest or it will drag on longer.

A friend of mine still felt very tired and breathless after initial isolation and took a further 2 weeks off with sick note and then returned the first week after doing reduced hours. Hope you begin to feel better soon.