Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Covid

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

Mum visiting covid+ sister

44 replies

User72614955 · 13/12/2021 19:37

Hi all,

My sister has just tested positive for covid but says she has been coughing for a week. Previous tests were negative then today she has had a strong positive and feeling rough. My mum and other sister are due to visit her at the weekend and have already paid for their trains and winter wonderland so have said they will still go and she's going to isolate 5 days from today. I am just concerned as meant to be seeing them for Christmas and if they catch covid now they will likely be positive around Christmas. AIBU for thinking this shouldn't be going ahead?

OP posts:

tangyandsalty · 14/12/2021 06:11

It is ten days from the positive test.

No, it isn't. The nhs guidance is ten days from start of symptoms. It's ten days from positive test if you had no symptoms.

gherdl · 14/12/2021 06:16

@User72614955

NHS guidance states: How long you need to self-isolate If you test positive, your self-isolation period includes the day your symptoms started (or the day you had the test, if you do not have symptoms) and the next 10 full days. If you get symptoms while you're self-isolating, the 10 days restarts from the day after your symptoms started.

But I just feel like even if it's more than 10 days since her symptoms started, will she not still be infectious after a positive test only 5 days before?

It's not what you feel though, it's what the guidance states that matters, which is what your sister is following

polkadotpixie · 14/12/2021 06:25

If your sister is telling the truth about when her symptoms started then she is correct, it's 10 days from the start of symptoms, not 10 days from positive test

My symptoms started on Weds 13th October, I had a negative PCR that day and didn't test positive until Friday 15th October but my isolation ended on Saturday 23rd October and I was free to go out again on Sunday 24th October, as per Test & Trace

Warhertisuff · 14/12/2021 06:44

It is ten days from the positive test.

No, it's ten days from when you started showing symptoms... 10 days from the test if you're asymptomatic when the test was done.

Warhertisuff · 14/12/2021 06:50

But I just feel like even if it's more than 10 days since her symptoms started, will she not still be infectious after a positive test only 5 days before?

Quite possibly not... People are most infectious within the first five days, and in a study, no one was infectious after day 9. It's not the cliff edge of "super-infectious/perfectly safe" at the stroke of midnight on day 10 that some people seem to think...

www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/11/covid-19-most-contagious-first-5-days-illness-study-finds

itspartytime · 14/12/2021 06:50

So has your sister actually had a pcr test ?
Doesn't sound like it ? Is she not going to bother be issue it might interrupt her social life ??
I have spoken with two people who didn't bother as they are both self employed. It's not very fair behaviour in my opinion. But seems to be a happening more and more by the way this is spreading .
No idea how we can get people to change their minds and do the right thing. Good luck, if you end up seeing them.

TedGlenn · 14/12/2021 06:51

Your sister is right. However that relies on her being totally confident that the earlier symptoms were covid-related, not a coincidence. Not a risk I would be prepared to take with someone else's health but presumably she, and your mother, understand this risk.

EgonSpengler2020 · 14/12/2021 06:55

Putting law/rules aside. If they use proper ffp2 masks at all time, don't eat with her (because obviously they'd all have to remove masks for that), use a separate bathroom, and practice good hands hygiene. Then their exposure will be no worse than mine has been on the majority of my shifts working as a paramedic for the last 22 months and me and my family have survived.

Warhertisuff · 14/12/2021 06:55

@itspartytime

So has your sister actually had a pcr test ? Doesn't sound like it ? Is she not going to bother be issue it might interrupt her social life ?? I have spoken with two people who didn't bother as they are both self employed. It's not very fair behaviour in my opinion. But seems to be a happening more and more by the way this is spreading . No idea how we can get people to change their minds and do the right thing. Good luck, if you end up seeing them.

I think some people will have the attitude:

"The vulnerable have been vaccinated and boosted.... Infections are going crazy despite all the restrictions... Half the people I know have had it and it was pretty mild for all of them.... So why should I be a martyr here?"

I'm not saying it's responsible or right, but I do get it.

Warhertisuff · 14/12/2021 07:07

@EgonSpengler2020

Yes, faced with some very unpalatable choices with Christmas approaching, many people will make their own risk assessments that won't necessarily place "stopping the spread of Covid at all possible costs" at the non-negotiable pinnacle.

For instance, knowing what I know about the risks, if I had an outdoor event on,
say, day 9 of my isolation that my children had been looking forward to for ages and I was feeling well, I would do it (masked).... The tiny chance of me passing on Covid in that circumstance would not outweigh the desire not to disappoint my children unnecessarily. That's not being selfish, it's being proportionate.

MerryMarigold · 14/12/2021 07:36

That's not being selfish, it's being proportionate.

I agree. My children had Covid the week before the rules relaxed that whole families didn't have to isolate. I still walked my dog (I didn't have Covid) and I only ever saw someone once anyway! Some rule sticklers would no doubt have been ready to report me!

SunflowersInTheShade · 14/12/2021 07:40

Agree, sister is correct. And a cough is a valid symptom.

Still sounds irresponsible though.

Coronachristmas21 · 14/12/2021 08:51

Some people are stupid and no I wouldn't be seeing them at Christmas after this.

I have covid right now. I had a cough all last week and all pcr and lft tests negative. I tested positive at the weekend but by now my cough has gone and I have new symptoms. Clearly last week was something different and now I have covid. It could be the same for your sister. Two different things altogether.

Toadsinholes · 14/12/2021 09:03

Sister is right. I couldn’t be arsed to judge anyone at this stage tbh. If I were her/them I’d do the same.

AliceA2021 · 14/12/2021 09:04

@NeedsCharging

If I were you I would tell my sister she is being irresponsible. I would tell mum and other sister they are also being irresponsible for encouraging it. I would then tell them I will not be seeing them over Christmas. You will need to decide yourself what if anything you say or do. Your family sound like idiots by the way

Snap.

It's the idiots like these that mean the majority who are being careful end up having more restrictions. There's not a lot you can do @User72614955 apart from remind them sister needs to isolate and perhaps give her a dictionary so she can check the meaning of the word

The careful ones coming into contact with your sister will hopefully not be too vulnerable. I guess the vulnerable cannot count on others to just isolate for a short period.

AliceA2021 · 14/12/2021 09:07

When Omicron arrived in the UK with only 2 initial cases it was obvious it would spread far and wide quickly because people can no longer be bothered. It's the very vulnerable I feel for.

KilmordenCastle · 14/12/2021 09:17

@Toadsinholes

Sister is right. I couldn’t be arsed to judge anyone at this stage tbh. If I were her/them I’d do the same.

I agree.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 14/12/2021 09:20

@TheReluctantPhoenix

Your sister is actually right, assuming she is being honest about when symptoms started.

‘If you test positive, your self-isolation period includes the day your symptoms started (or the day you had the test, if you do not have symptoms) and the next 10 full days.’

The above is from the NHS official advice.

Yes, she's right.

Topseyt · 14/12/2021 09:49

@AliceA2021

When Omicron arrived in the UK with only 2 initial cases it was obvious it would spread far and wide quickly because people can no longer be bothered. It's the very vulnerable I feel for.

I am one of the very vulnerable. No need to feel sorry for me.

I think people should be living their lives (as am I) and running their businesses and livelihoods. We can't keep dancing around this thing forever. It isn't going to go away.

Flip

1 2