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Original poster

People with covid now - how much are you isolating?

201 replies

LostOrFound · 04/04/2022 12:35

Now the guidance has changed and there is no legal requirement to isolate, what are you doing?

We tested positive a week ago and had mild symptoms, fully isolated for 5 days and are going about our normal business now though we are still testing positive, though trying to avoid close contact and indoor spaces and wearing masks everywhere.

OP posts:
MaudieandMe · 04/04/2022 17:54

I’m on day 11 and testing negative so went out for the first time to go shopping, still wearing my face mask and keeping a distance. I kept DS off school all last week too.

I’m in Ireland where we’ve always had to buy the LFT kits. Presumably you can still buy boxes of them in a Pharmacy?

TheKeatingFive · 04/04/2022 17:55

What continues to surprise me is the degree to which people expect others they don't give a fuck about - to care about them.

sillymoo64 · 04/04/2022 17:58

I and partner are both flat out with covid; he tested positive Saturday morning but was ill all day Friday so thought he would be positive he does work from home so had not been out. I felt awful Saturday afternoon and finished early despite having a negative test in the morning spent all day yesterday in bed along with OH who is also really bad but managed to get up and stagger to the chair in the lounge today. managed a shower and clean nightie but that is it. OH managed to get dressed and did a bit of work from home but he is far from right we won't be doing anything major until all is clear. I work with someone who is caring for elderly parents so not going back until a negative test. Husband has a father in a care home so the same thing again he will be working from home but obviously wont visit until negative

Overthebow · 04/04/2022 18:31

I’ve got cold symptoms and have no idea if it’s covid or not as there aren’t free tests anymore. I’m not spending my own money on them. So as I don’t know if it’s covid im not isolating, and am just treating it like any other illness. I’m not ill enough to stay off work or stay in the house so am going about my usual day. I’ll be doing this every time I’m unwell from now on, using my common sense.

SwishSwishBisch · 04/04/2022 19:07

I’m day 6 since first symptom, day 4 since positive LFT and I’m isolating at home. Scottish rules so I either need two negative LFTs (todays was super positive) or 10 days, which would be Friday.
I’m so bloody bored, it’s just me and the cat in a tiny flat, but I don’t want the responsibility of knowingly passing it on to anyone else

VerbenaVerbena · 04/04/2022 19:57

www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-54239922

*"People with Covid across the UK are no longer legally required to self-isolate.

But exactly what you are advised to do depends on where you live." *

SexyLittleNosferatu · 04/04/2022 20:13

@TheKeatingFive

What continues to surprise me is the degree to which people expect others they don't give a fuck about - to care about them.
Whilst simultaneously giving absolutely zero fucks about anyone else.
Stanleystuck · 04/04/2022 20:30

I went back to work on day 9 with a faint positive. I was getting pressure from work and a lot of chat about it being unlikely to be contagious still.i wore a mask for the first two days but still felt guilty and pretty crappy

Walkaround · 04/04/2022 22:38

The official advice in England for children aged 18 and under is not to take covid tests at all unless specifically told to by a medical professional, and to keep going out and about unless they have a temperature or feel too unwell to go out. If they do feel too ill to go out, they should only stay home for as long as it takes to not have a temperature and to feel well enough to go out again. If they do take a test and test positive, they are only supposed to isolate for three days. Adults are no only advised to isolate for 5 days. No further testing is advised prior to stopping isolation. Officially, basically, people, particularly children, are being advised to get on with their usual activities unless they feel too ill to do so and their covid status is irrelevant to this advice, so it’s less a case of not being obliged to isolate and more a case of encouraging people to isolate as little as possible… Given this expectation, you will no doubt quite rapidly find few people are isolating for more than 3-5 days unless they feel really ill, as that is the guidance that is now being given.

Abraxan · 04/04/2022 22:56

My parents and BIL are all avoiding contact with anyone outside their homes. Bil has been for isolated walks but not coming into contact with other people. Think dad has too. Mum hasn't felt up to it. My parents are retired but bil has worked from home during his isolation.

Abraxan · 04/04/2022 23:01

@Daqqe

How are you all testing though?! My neighbours used the last of their LFs to test positive over the weekend. They have none left, nor do we. So all they can really do is isolate for a few days & when feeling better, get back on with life?!

How much have the mumsnet crowd been stock piling LFTs?! 😂 meanwhile, the rest of the UK have zero access to testing anymore 🙈

My parents have about 3 boxes at home and my sister had a couple of boxes.

Dh and I have been testing. I have still be able to get LFTs at present - I'm eligible for fourth vaccine and antivirals so I assume that's why.

greyinganddecaying · 04/04/2022 23:10

I am CEV, positive test on Tuesday. I've not left the house since apart from 3 occasions:
Day 1 - drive in PCR
Day 3 - I dropped my kids at school (in the car, didn't leave the car)
Day 6 - I collected the kids from school, 10 minutes after the rest of the parents, wearing a mask and giving everyone a wide berth (outside).

All were necessities, no other option apart from keeping kids off school.

MissMarpleRocks · 05/04/2022 07:11

I finally tested negative yesterday day 14. I’ve been completely floored by it & now on antibiotics. Even though triple jabbed. I couldn’t have gone anywhere even if I’d wanted to.

We were lucky that we were given LFT for free for so long. I’ve family abroad who have always had to pay for their tests.

Dh also had it but wasn’t as bad as me but still couldn’t have gone anywhere.

Poor dog didn’t get walked for 10 days.

AndAsIfByMagic · 05/04/2022 07:32

It's reassuring to read that most people are doing the right thing.

The regulations should have remained in place. Too many are choosing to ignore the risk to others.

It's sad to see people prepared to knowingly infect others. No reason is good enough if it sends a vulnerable person to hospital or death.

Wordlewobble · 05/04/2022 07:44

I had week before/last week. DH and I both wfh didn’t go anywhere other than for PCR test. Other than I/we walked our dog in a quiet wooded area (for exercise and fresh air) where we live and if I/we saw someone we kept well
back. I isolated in the house from DS who was sitting mocks and didn’t isolate from DD who had just had it or DH who had it at the same time as me.

OhWhatFuckeryIsThisNow · 05/04/2022 07:51

Dh tested + three weeks ago, asymptotic. I chose to sleep on sofa, but he still mixed with rest of fam, took dog out for lone walks. I’ve tested + Saturday walking dog on field but that’s it.

Butitsnotfunnyisititsserious · 05/04/2022 07:57

@AndAsIfByMagic

It's reassuring to read that most people are doing the right thing.

The regulations should have remained in place. Too many are choosing to ignore the risk to others.

It's sad to see people prepared to knowingly infect others. No reason is good enough if it sends a vulnerable person to hospital or death.

Some people don't get sick pay so they could end up in a difficult situation financially were they to isolate. Bills are going up, many people are already struggling, if you don't get sick pay then of course you're going to work if you can. People will be putting their families over a stranger.
LadyCatStark · 05/04/2022 08:25

^So why does a random tradesman's income matter more than my OH's life??^

To the “random” tradesman… it matters an enormous amount. How is he supposed to feed his family with no income?

HardyBuckette · 05/04/2022 08:31

@AndAsIfByMagic

It's reassuring to read that most people are doing the right thing.

The regulations should have remained in place. Too many are choosing to ignore the risk to others.

It's sad to see people prepared to knowingly infect others. No reason is good enough if it sends a vulnerable person to hospital or death.

If the isolation requirements were still law now, they'd be widely ignored by people who didn't have the option of staying off work, just as they were now.

You can moralise all you like about it, but it makes nary a shit of difference to the fact that some people need their incomes, and that we can either have full sick pay across the board in those circumstances or we get a society where some people with covid have no choice but to work. And the people who are in this position regard your opinion with about the same level of interest as you do their welfare.

SafeMove · 05/04/2022 08:33

I tested positive last Monday, got a feint line on Sat and went for a walk in countryside. Strongly tested positive Sunday and just now. So confusing as my symptoms seem to be coming and going too! Have asked work what I should do (researcher in NHS) they are getting back to me. Pharmacists are being told to come in despite positive tests as my Mum works in one.

User310 · 05/04/2022 08:34

I isolated for 9 days other than popping to the local shop a couple of times (needed calpol) and needed to grab a few food items. I went late at night and wore a mask.

Ruibies · 05/04/2022 09:09

I'm on day 11, have spent about £40 on tests for me and DH since the first positive last week. I've not been out except to walk the dog and once to the hospital for reduced fetal movement monitoring. I've cancelled driving lessons, a midwife appointment and a vet visit - my policy was to let those people know I was testing positive and what day it was and let them decide if they wanted me there or not. I can wfh so I'm lucky, and DH has been resting negative the whole time so he's been out and about as usual. We have been sleeping separately, work in different rooms, and really minimal touching/contact. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a negative test when my next load of LTFs arrive today. I would feel really guilty going out and interacting with people when still testing positive.

blobby10 · 05/04/2022 09:11

I had a stinking rotten cold at the start of March, lots of Covid symptoms (except a sky high temp) but tested negative twice - I still went to work (I run the company) but stayed in my office on my own and didn't go anywhere else. if I had to go to the shop for essentials I wore a mask and didn't linger. If I hadn't been in charge at work I would have stayed at home as felt lousy.

EBearhug · 05/04/2022 09:13

I followed the old isolation rules, even though I didn’t have to, because I don’t want to spread it.

Me too. I did go out once on about day 6 to the supermarket- fully masked, and not a very busy time, and I wasn't coughing or sneezing. That was the only time I went out in my 11 days of positive tests. I was mostly sumptom-free, apart from a sore throat and cough at the start. The garden is quite well-weeded, though.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 05/04/2022 09:13

@Daqqe

How are you all testing though?! My neighbours used the last of their LFs to test positive over the weekend. They have none left, nor do we. So all they can really do is isolate for a few days & when feeling better, get back on with life?!

How much have the mumsnet crowd been stock piling LFTs?! 😂 meanwhile, the rest of the UK have zero access to testing anymore 🙈

You can still order some on line, I did it the other day.