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Original poster

Help! DS just had covid, is vaccinated, but told to isolate due to Omnicron. Is that right?

26 replies

eyeslikebutterflies · 09/12/2021 18:36

I can't find any guidance on this, can anyone help? I understand that if you are a close contact of someone who gets Omnicron then you have to isolate, even if double jabbed. But what about if you are single jabbed (14 year old) AND have literally just had and recovered from COVID? Do you still have to isolate then?

DS's school want him to stay at home for yet another period of isolation. This seems a bit silly, given his recent infection. But also I had planned on keeping the kids in school until the end of term, as they've both had covid recently and thus I thought no risk of them picking it up again and having to isolate over Xmas. Now I'm worried we would have to isolate regardless - and miss seeing our family we haven't seen for 2 years - even though we've all just had it. Arrrghhhhh.

Anyone have any idea on this?

OP posts:
Nevertime · 09/12/2021 18:38

Yes, I think that's right, there's no different rules for "recovered" in England

Schmoozer · 09/12/2021 18:44

Just follow the rules !!!
Close contact of omicron is ISOLATE -
Not yeh but / no but !!! 🤣🤣🤣

Nikita1709 · 09/12/2021 18:44

@Nevertime is correct. Everyone, regardless, has to self isolate if it’s suspected Omicron. My understanding is that they don’t know how quickly after recovery you can be infected with Omicron at the moment.

wizbit93 · 09/12/2021 18:46

See this is where I'm getting confused. The gov.uk page hasn't been updated since the 2nd Dec, but all the papers are reporting that it changed yesterday-

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/covid-omicron-contacts-isolation-tests-b1972356.html

SarahMused · 09/12/2021 18:46

Are you saying that test and trace have identified him as a close contact of someone with the omicron variant? If so, at the moment, he is supposed to isolate. It was announced yesterday that this is going to change to daily testing but no date has been set as yet.

Costumeidea · 09/12/2021 18:48

@Schmoozer

Just follow the rules !!! Close contact of omicron is ISOLATE - Not yeh but / no but !!! 🤣🤣🤣
Jeez. Are you ok?
Watapalava · 09/12/2021 18:51

It sounds like school are telling him to isolate

That is wrong

The only world who can tell you to isolate are track and trace since it is there role to trace contacts - not school

Plus school won’t know what variant it is

Tell school to sod off as they cannot do this

Twiglets1 · 09/12/2021 18:51

How do people know if they have the new variant?

Watapalava · 09/12/2021 18:52

Test and trace will let contacts know if they have been in contact with omicron

No one else can tell you to isolate

Schools know full well they cannot tell contacts to isolate anymore - delta or omicron

Peanutmnm · 09/12/2021 18:54

Id say OP that the issue here is they dont know who it affects (recovered/vacinated or otherwise) and just know its spreads like the clappers. So yes, he needs to isolate. A month from now, I think it will be a very different story.

Original poster
eyeslikebutterflies · 09/12/2021 18:55

Yeah thanks @Schmoozer that's so terribly helpful. I have no problem following the rules, thanks, and have indeed done so since March 2020, when all around me, including in government, have not done so.

Guidance doesn't mention this group at all, and given that he's literally just out of his isolation period after having had covid, it seems utterly, utterly ridiculous that he be isolating yet again. Plus, he can't have a PCR for 90 days due to having just had it ... but school are asking him to. It's all such a mess.

@Watapalava @Twiglets1 the school has been informed by T&T that it is the omicron variant that this person has, and they have said we will get a call from T&T. So I can ask them when (if) they call, but my experience of T&T is that they read from a call-sheet and can't answer questions that are off sheet ... which this appears to be.

OP posts:
Original poster
eyeslikebutterflies · 09/12/2021 19:06

It's such a confusing mess. I had presumed that we'd avoid the end of term will-they-won't-they nonsense that we've had every other term. If this is genuinely the case, that having just had covid counts for nothing, I'll have to pull the kids out of school: we're seeing family we've not seen in 2 years at Xmas and I can't risk that happening.

I thought we were finally, FINALLY going to get some respite from the endless bloody isolations - we have had so many in our house I have lost count - it's just awful. And unlike Boris and his cronies we've followed all the rules, had all the jabs... and for what? Argh, sorry, I'm just so flummoxed by this news. We've had the most awful awful year and this really is pushing me to the edge.

OP posts:
Busybee5000 · 09/12/2021 19:22

Sky news report said yesterday that the gov announced that no longer isolation but daily tests. Can’t find it in the guidance yet.

MsMartini · 09/12/2021 19:34

@eyeslikebutterflies, I am sorry, you've had a really rough ride.

But yes, pp are correct - the change was announced yesterday but is not in place yet. When it is, it should appear here www.gov.uk/coronavirus.

At present, as that link says, it is very simple: "If you’re a contact of someone who may have been infected with the Omicron variant, you must self-isolate for 10 days, regardless of your age, vaccination status or any negative test results"

AFAIK, recent infection was never relevant in the UK, and certainly won't be now as omicron is known to be re-infecting - that is part of the problem.

I hope you get to see your family over Christmas.

PokemonGoGoGo · 09/12/2021 19:34

The problem is you might not hear directly from T&T as that would rely on the person testing positive having the contact details of all their contacts. When my 12yo tested positive we had no contact details for anyone in his classes, so it was just "tough" as school also wasn't tracing contacts.

I guess with Omicron this might now be different and I think if your child has been identified as a contact of Omicron then they have to isolate as directed.

Yes, the guidance is due to change to contacts testing daily instead of isolating but as far as I am aware this guidance hasn't started yet (and may even still need to be voted through parliament before it is given the go ahead) so for now it remains that contacts of Omicron have to isolate - even if fully vaccinated/recently recovered etc.

BonnyBoy · 09/12/2021 19:43

@eyeslikebutterflies

Yeah thanks *@Schmoozer* that's so terribly helpful. I have no problem following the rules, thanks, and have indeed done so since March 2020, when all around me, including in government, have not done so.

Guidance doesn't mention this group at all, and given that he's literally just out of his isolation period after having had covid, it seems utterly, utterly ridiculous that he be isolating yet again. Plus, he can't have a PCR for 90 days due to having just had it ... but school are asking him to. It's all such a mess.

@Watapalava @Twiglets1 the school has been informed by T&T that it is the omicron variant that this person has, and they have said we will get a call from T&T. So I can ask them when (if) they call, but my experience of T&T is that they read from a call-sheet and can't answer questions that are off sheet ... which this appears to be.

You can do another PCR within 90 days of infection and for contact with Omicron you are asked to.

Most people will test negative on PCR after 14 days. It's extremely unusual to still test positive so the government advise not to 'routinely' test ie lateral flows for work etc. this guidance has been misinterpreted

Original poster
eyeslikebutterflies · 09/12/2021 20:00

@bonnyboy That is incorrect advice. The guidance is NOT to repeat test within 90 days. I'm not going to retest any member of our family within that period as it's pointless: we will get a false positive.

This is what Gov.UK website says: "If someone has tested positive with a PCR test, they should not be tested using either PCR or rapid lateral flow tests for 90 days, unless they develop new symptoms during this time – in which case they should be retested immediately using PCR."

www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-testing-in-adult-care-homes/covid-19-testing-schedule-for-a-suspected-or-confirmed-outbreak-in-a-care-home#:~:text=If%20someone%20has%20tested%20positive,retested%20immediately%20using%20PCR.

OP posts:
Original poster
eyeslikebutterflies · 09/12/2021 20:05

Thanks everyone for being kind. This year has been bloody awful for our family, and unrelentingly so for almost all of 2021, with a fairly strong chance that we're going to continue having a shit time in 2022. The one thing I was hanging on to was our family Christmas: we need to be together, with the people we love the most, to chat and laugh and put the world to rights, and have the kids mess about, and watch crap TV and eat too much ... while BoJo and his merry band of shysters have done what the hell they fancied over the past 18 months, we have sacrificed so much. I'm just struggling to comprehend the fact that after all we have been through, we might not be able to see the family we so desperately miss.

OP posts:
Watapalava · 09/12/2021 20:20

Op isolate from school as school won’t allow him in

Google T&T number and block it

Then go about your xmas as normal. No legal obligation without T&T

amicissimma · 09/12/2021 20:21

From gov.uk (under "Contacts who are not required to self-isolate")

"If you are not required to self-isolate NHS Test and Trace will contact you and provide you with advice on testing and guidance on preventing the spread of COVID-19. You will be advised to have a PCR test as soon as possible. Children aged 4 and under will not be advised to take a test unless the positive case was someone in their own household.

If you have previously received a positive COVID-19 PCR test result you are not usually advised to be re-tested within 90 days of this result. However, you should have a PCR test within 90 days of a previous positive PCR test if:

you develop any new symptoms of COVID-19
you are a close contact of someone who has been identified as a suspected or confirmed case of the Omicron variant of COVID-19
you are required to take a PCR test upon entry into the UK

If you are tested within 90 days of a positive PCR test result for any of these 3 reasons, and the PCR test result is positive, you must stay at home, self-isolate and follow the stay at home guidance."

Original poster
eyeslikebutterflies · 09/12/2021 20:31

Thanks @amicissimma, that's very odd as the same government website directly contradicts that advice... it's almost like they haven't thought it through properly. Given that the PCR testing requirement re Omicron appears to be a compete knee-jerk reaction - and would lead to a false positive - we won't be doing it.

OP posts:
Underparmummy · 09/12/2021 20:36

@Schmoozer

Just follow the rules !!! Close contact of omicron is ISOLATE - Not yeh but / no but !!! 🤣🤣🤣
Wow. The lack of empathy and understanding makes you appear psychotic.
Underparmummy · 09/12/2021 20:40

What if you had just recovered from Omicron though?

Original poster
eyeslikebutterflies · 09/12/2021 20:55

What do you mean @Underparmummy?

OP posts:
Underparmummy · 09/12/2021 20:59

What if you had just had an omicron case, recovered, and then got told to isolate again as a close contact of a different omicron case?

I know at the moment super unlikely (because of labs not reality..).

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