Going back to work when still positive?

[peekaboo321]

I only work 2 days a week and I tested positive last Saturday. I'm still positive and I feel a bit better but still lethargic and cold symptoms. Would I be ok to return to work tomorrow even if I'm still testing positive?

No it doesn’t

If your boss is ok with you staying home, stay home.

Some work places really don't give a shit about it anymore is a thing I think a lot of people are forgetting, and many many people can't afford to take time off or can't afford the sickness on their absence record.

A friend of mine got told to come into work with it, they weren't giving paid sick leave for COVID absence anymore and she couldn't afford not to. It sucks but some people have been put in a position where they have no choice but to work with it.

Sorry to hear youve been bad with it, but when I caught covid (and I'm totally unvaccinated) I was fine. In fact, I've had worse colds.

Even if I was vulnerable (and BTW I have extremely close family members who were shielding) you cant expect the world to revolve around "the vulnerable" forever and ever.

And if that makes me "horrible" to some people, then so be it.

The science is that you will continue testing positive for a lot longer than you are contagious. If it' been more than 5 days (which it has) and you feel well enough to work then you are fine to go in. The people you work with will be more at risk from someone else whose existing infection hasn't been detected yet than they are from you.

I was not vulnerable , I was fit and healthy. I will never be fit and healthy again as I have irreversible damage with life changing consequences. I had had all three vaccinations (I was a healthcare worker). I caught covid a few months ago.
I expect people to behave the same if they have measles or chicken pox or mumps , be responsible and don't spread it.

From the gov.U.K. Website

What to do if you have tested positiveYou are no longer required to do a COVID-19 rapid lateral flow test if you have symptoms.But if you or your child have tested positive for COVID-19:try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for a further 3 days after your positive test if you are under 18 years
try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for a further 5 days after your positive test if you are 18 or over
avoid meeting people who are more likely to get seriously ill from viruses, such as people with a weakened immune system, for a further 10 days after your positive test

I think people are naive if they think that is how people are behaving with covid. I work with the public and I know of 9 colleagues who have come to work with it, because they felt OK and were told they should come in if they weren't actively ill with it.

I know of 3 others who caught it and stayed off work for about a fortnight. But that was because they were actually ill with it.

The figures on long covid are that females and healthcare workers are disproportionately affected by it. Certainly I have a colleague who has died of covid and several I know , including myself, who have had to retire on ill health grounds because of it.

The long covid clinics that exist are overwhelmed and it's a healthcare crisis that is still brewing.

I was self employed , I did isolate responsibly and continue to do so because I could not in all conscience be responsible for someone else suffering loss of income, loss of health , loss of life, even though I lost income I could ill afford.

In the end I hope most people will have the humanity to do the right thing .

I tested positive a few weeks ago, went straight into work. I had a massive deadline and project ending. Notified those who I felt needed to know and then cracked on wearing a mask.

If I hadn't tested I would have thought I had a light cold or hay fever starting up. So, many are not testing and carrying on. Others, test and isolate, some like myself test and take precautions. Or they just simply lie. I think at this stage it's staying off if too ill to work.

There are also many who can not afford to be off if they don't receive sick pay or only get stat sick.

Not a single person who I worked in close contact with has become ill or was even bothered.

@Periornot

Both NHS and CDC say 5 days.

www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2021/s1227-isolation-quarantine-guidance.html

www.nhs.uk/conditions/covid-19/covid-19-symptoms-and-what-to-do/

I was still testing positive when I went back but I was on day 11 and still getting a very faint line. I didn't bother testing again after that. I wouldn't have gone in if it was less than a week since the positive test though

@Lollygaggle, so sorry to hear that. Covid has affected so many people. It's like the longer term effects of the virus are ignored by so many.

I don't understand why we are facilitating so many more to become vulnerable, given the othering and treatment of vulnerable throughout this pandemic.

Thanks @kegofcoffee. People are less infectious as time goes on during the infectious period. However, I can't see anything that says it's changed from 2/3 of people still being infectious after five days though.

Six people in my office have tested positive over the weekend - all very likely due to another person who "felt fine" came into work for 3 days last week despite a positive test. Please consider others.

How long since their first positive test? I was still testing positive on day 11 but couldn't stay at home forever.

Not certain but not long as 11 - I believe it was over the previous weekend and they then came in Wed to Fri

Just do what you'd do for any other illness. If you're well enough to work, work, if not stay at home until you're well.

Most people aren't testing now, so would never know. Where I work (school) we're positively discouraged from testing. Even the NHS only says your should "try" to stay away from people for 5 days.

Thank you for the resource links. I will definitely check them out

I'm biased as I've currently got Covid and feeling crap .But I'm in the don't go to work if positive camp .
This is a nasty illness which we still don't know a lot about,It's unpredictable how it affects people and for the vulnerable can be very serious and for the not vulnerable can have long lasting effects .
The current strain seems very contagious ,why wouldn't you want to lessen the chance of passing it on ? It's easy to test for though not cheap.

I believe it's important to maintain openness and tolerance in dialogue in order to achieve a constructive outcome.

It's important to remember that we are all human and should respect each other, even if we don't agree with each other.

Can't believe your asking. If you still feel unwell then you don't go back until you feel better OP. God what would you do if your boss asked you to go in.