Covid vs winter coughs...

[KevinTheKoala]

I'm just looking for opinions on how others feel this situation should be handled - I'm not judging or being nasty about anyone involved. I work in a busy restaurant, one of our staff members has an irritating cough that won't shift - it's not covid just one of those long lasting winter viruses - they were wearing a mask and they don't handle the food or drinks being served at all. I had a couple who were not wearing masks pulled me over and asked if we are required to test every day and I told them the truth that we are only requested to test 3x a week. They then complained about the staff member coughing, I didn't know what to say to them. Shortly after they paid for their drinks and left (which is absolutely fair enough if they are not comfortable with the situation I really do not blame them). The thing is with winter coughs the cough can last weeks and obviously we can't afford to take weeks of unpaid work or even with SSP every time one of us gets a winter cough we are on minimum wage and have bills to pay. However I am now wondering what I could have said or how that could have been handled better - so I'm asking on here how do you think it should be handled?

I think I'd have simply told them that you're not able/prepared to divulge other people's medical history and leave it at that. And I'd have said something like that in response to their question about testing tbh - its really not any of their business - you could maybe just say "our manager has measures in place to protect us and our customers as much as is possible" and leave it at that really.

People can cough for lots of reasons and Covid is not a major cause of coughing with current strains of the virus and most people would be long past the contagious period by the time a cough develops.
You are not at liberty to disclose other people's health issues to strangers anyway.

@Giveaschitt

I think I'd have simply told them that you're not able/prepared to divulge other people's medical history and leave it at that. And I'd have said something like that in response to their question about testing tbh - its really not any of their business - you could maybe just say "our manager has measures in place to protect us and our customers as much as is possible" and leave it at that really.

I think this would have been a good response. It's not their business.

I had covid in January as did 2 others in my house. None of us had a cough.

If everyone isolated with a cough, there would be no staff to serve your delightful customers! She could have lung cancer for all they know!

Oh and BTW I work for the NHS and we are meant to test twice weekly but no one checks and therefore no one I know in the hospital (as in 25 staff members) tests unless they have symptoms.

I have asthma and any kind of virus aggravates my condition and results in a long term cough afterwards. This current version of corona has been no exception and I’m now left with a cough that will persist for some time. The coughs always sound terrible and I used to worry about them even before corona but even more so now! I do test twice weekly and wear a mask but I can still see people backing away when they hear me.

My daughter has asthma and coughs terribly throughout the entirety of winter so I know how long they can linger and I just felt so sorry for my co-worker who was within earshot (I would never disclose anything medical anyway but I didn't want to put anyone in an uncomfortable position). Thank you I'll have a stock response now in case something similar happens again.

To be honest I would ask your staff if they mind testing every day they are on shift.

And I say that as someone who also get winter coughs and was very surprised to discover that this latest one is covid.