Gutted and scared!

[elephantmarchingin]

Woke up last night with a bit of a sore throat. Went back to sleep and woke up with it again this morning. Thought I'd test just in case and it's positive! DH is also positive but no symptoms, DS is negative for now but we are unable to stay away from him.

I'm terrified, I'm obese so likely to end up in ICU and then to top it off we were supposed to be going on holiday tomorrow which we obviously now cannot go on. We are so so upset and I need a bit of a handhold, especially since we get no money back!

What @Toomanylosthours said. Gobsmacked people are suggesting the OP should still go. What if there is someone on the boat who is seriously immune compromised? Here is the problem with the government's "living with covid" strategy and lack of consistent messaging around what you should do when you test positive. Really sorry to hear about your holiday but try not to worry. Since you are vaccinated, you are very unlikely to end up in ICU. Have you got travel insurance?

I'm on day 4 and am also missing a holiday we should be on today. I really doubt you will need to go to hospital just because you are obese, especially if you are vaxxed. Well done for not going on your holiday though, as others might be vulnerable and that is so selfish. You also need to rest to get well and avoid long covid. I can't believe how many people are saying to go!

Get well soon! And stay positive xxxx

I have no idea why you tested when it’s not compulsory and I would not be missing a holiday
My 80 year old Mum has just tested positive and phoned me in a panic, she’s not even really ill but is now terrified.
Unless testing is required then just dont do it, there’s no point

Again, stop testing. There is zero benefit to you. You have lost your holiday but you would have gone if you had tested negative. Are you really going to take a test every time you get a sore throat for the rest of your life?

As far as ending up in ICU is concerned, that is most unlikely, even if you are overweight.

One of my private cleaning clients caught it in September 2020 and he was 75, overweight, has COPD, had two previous heart attacks and he shook it off in a couple of weeks.

With just a sore throat, I would be going on holiday, after putting any remaining testing kits in the bin.

^ THIS

"zero benefit to you"

....is this really how selfish we have become as a society?

I'd be going on my holiday. The word "selfish" has been so over-used as to have lost all meaning.

Or maybe the word "selfish" has been used quite a lot because quite a lot of people are behaving in a selfish way ... 🙄
The (wishy washy) "guidance" from the government still says to try to stay away from others for 5 days.

Does holiday insurance cover covid these days, or will they not pay out because we are 'living with covid'?

My holiday insurance does cover you if you have to cancel because you test positive. We are with Churchill and covered for:

Cancelling a trip if:

You or any insured person, a close relative or travelling companion are diagnosed with COVID-19 or a pandemic disease.
You, a travelling companion, or a person you’re planning to stay with during your trip has been advised to quarantine/self-isolate (either abroad or in the UK).
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO, previously referred to as FCO) advise against all travel to your destination or all but essential travel to your destination within 28 days of departure, as long as the advice wasn’t in place when you booked your trip or purchased your policy (whichever was later).
You are unable to use your pre-booked and pre-paid accommodation because the accommodation, or immediately surrounding area, is adversely affected by the disease COVID-19.

Our insurance did cover us up to 24 hours before but we just missed the mark!

We have managed to rearrange our travel until mid next week I really hope we are well enough.

I don't know why I tested I wish I hadn't as we had a day our planned today with activities booked which we have also lost money on. Blooming hell!

Yes mostly it does (although check your policy wording because companies differ) but you will have to have evidence of a positive test - so reported to the NHS or other. A picture of your positive test will not be enough as there is nothing to link it to you as the policy holder.

OP, just to reassure you, my DPs are both quite vulnerable and elderly - my DM is CEV (lung cancer) and had to shield during the first lockdown. We have all been terrified of her getting Covid. Both fully vaccinated.

They’ve both just had it. Neither had a cough. Neither had symptoms worse than a bad cold, with fatigue. The vaccines really do help.

Sorry about your holiday - but I think you’d be unlucky indeed to end up in ICU.

My neighbour's husband tested positive the day before they went to the Isle of Wight festival. Didn't stop them going.

Glad you have managed to get the dates rearranged. I think you are doing the right thing. Also, for your own well-being, I would have thought it probably best not to be away in an unfamiliar place just in case you start to feel lousy or whatever?

I'm morbidly obese with asthma. Triple vaxxed, caught covid in Jan. felt Ill like a bad cold and dizzy but was ok and was never close to needing hospital admission x

Pretty much everyone in my family has had Covid now and despite, age, multiple co-morbidities (including asthma, cancer, CPOD, obesity and heart failure), for the majority it was a rotten cold. A couple of my family members aren't vaccinated either.

Stay at home, dose up and emerge into the light when you feel better! And unless you're going to a holiday cottage by yourselves and not seeing anyone else, then I think it's a bad idea to go away. You might end up passing it to someone who has all sorts of underlying issues and I personally don't think that's fair. Just because a thing is legal, doesn't mean it's right.

@Movinghouseatlast really ? Im not positive as yet but was near someone at work on monday who then tested positive monday night, im testing and keeping an eye for symptoms but travel insurance only kicks in if positive , fly sat so 5 days after contact but i do worry what if I test positive the next day ? But loads have said to me about people travelling with and I wasn't award uou could travel day 5 with a mask

Perhaps you would be kind enough to share with everyone what YOU did, prior to 2020, to safeguard others?

Did YOU wear a mask? Did YOU stay at home for 10 days after showing respiratory symptoms?

You mean before there was a major global pandemic of a novel virus that causes vascular (NOT respiratory) disease that changed the way we think about how we protect others? Because I'm really not sure that's relevant at all. Nice try, though.

Some of these replies just prove why we are still in a mess with covid, people will generally not care less if they spread it around. Utterly selfish to be honest. Of course no one should be getting on a plane with covid. But they couldn't care less and think if you don't test then it doesn't exist. I only test if I've got to see someone vulnerable or if I'm feeling ill, that's enough now.

Anyway OP, you'll be fine, I'm obese (and triple vaxxed) and had covid a few weeks ago and whilst I felt rubbish for a couple of days, I got over it far quicker than most people I know.

So, nothing then. Thought so.

I know it may be news to you but, prior to 2020 there were infections around that caused great difficulties for certain people eg immunocompromised but you are alright Jack, eh?

I'm not really having a go at you personally but please, stop with the virtue signalling. You are not a bit-part-actor in a disaster movie any more. People have gone back to the old normal.

Just a trillion quid to pay back and mountain of plastic medical waste to clear up.

I agree with you.

It's not virtue signalling, though. We are in a different world to pre-2020 and you just cannot compare them IMO. We know things now, and they are things that specifically relate to covid, that I think should change the way we behave in certain circumstances. At the start of the pandemic I hoped that maybe we would come out of it all a little more considerate (and I include myself in that), but now, I dunno. I don't think going back to the 'old normal' is necessarily the right thing. There has to be (and I hate this phrase) a 'new normal', where we act differently if we do have symptoms. Otherwise, we will learn nothing from this pandemic. And we will be in pretty bad shape when the next one comes along (which, if you read scientists' opinions, is likely to be far worse).

FWIW I tested positive yesterday. I did a test because I go to a hobby on Thursday nights were there is someone who is clinically vulnerable. I tested because I kept having to clear my throat, and I was tired, so fairly minor in the scheme of things. Obviously pre-2020 I wouldn't have done that (wouldn't have even been able to do that), but I felt it was the right thing to do. And now I will not come into contact with this guy until at least next Thursday. Why wouldn't that be the right thing to do?

I don't believe in further lockdowns or anything like that, but there may be times when re-introducing masks (proper ones) might be appropriate, and I also think that the autumn booster programme should be rolled out to everyone. This will enable us to live as normally as possible and try to mitigate what otherwise looks like it's shaping up to be an endless cycle of infection and re-infection.

they don't require testing but seems selfish to go

Absolutely right OP, i think going in the middle of lots of people knowing you have it and potentially spoiling others holidays, is very selfish.

You probably wont end up in ICU now vaccines are in place, so i wouldn't worry too much on that front.