Quarantine Life

I tested positive for COVID, and since I live with my parents, I obviously passed it to my mom. Because of me, they were stuck in isolation until December 2nd. But now that Mom’s caught it too, she reported her last contact with Dad this past Friday, so now he’s looking at a new isolation period through December 7th. He doesn't have any symptoms and is already losing his mind being stuck at home, so he wants to just go get tested on his own—he thinks if the result comes back negative, he's automatically good to go.

My question is: if he goes to get tested tomorrow and it comes back negative, does he still have to finish out that isolation until the 7th?

I don't think it's an automatic pass. If memory serves, there’s usually a four to six-day window between exposure and when symptoms actually kick in, though it can take even longer. Just because he tests negative today or tomorrow doesn't mean he won't start feeling sick or test positive the day after.

Robin Edwards38 said:I tested positive for COVID, and since I live with my parents, I obviously passed it to my mom. Because of me, they were stuck in isolation until December 2nd. But now that Mom’s caught it too, she reported her last contact with Dad this past Friday, so now he’s looking at a new isolation period through December 7th. He doesn't have any symptoms and is already losing his mind being stuck at home, so he wants to just go get tested on his own—he thinks if the result comes back negative, he's automatically good to go.

My question is: if he goes to get tested tomorrow and it comes back negative, does he still have to finish out that isolation until the 7th?

That only applies if you're some high-level federal official or a doctor. In those cases, they do two consecutive tests, and if you're negative, you move to enhanced monitoring.

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Look, a little bit of quarantine isn't the worst thing in the world, unless this whole mess drags on for more than two months. Then we're really in trouble.

Alexander Morgan33 said:I don't think it's an automatic pass. If memory serves, there’s usually a four to six-day window between exposure and when symptoms actually kick in, though it can take even longer. Just because he tests negative today or tomorrow doesn't mean he won't start feeling sick or test positive the day after.

That's what I figured too, and my doctor said the same thing at the end. But honestly, he's living under the same roof as me and my mom—she's been symptomatic for almost two weeks now, and I've had them for a little less. If he hasn't caught it yet and keeps testing negative, good for him.

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Alexander Morgan33 said:I don't think it's an automatic pass. If memory serves, there’s usually a four to six-day window between exposure and when symptoms actually kick in, though it can take even longer. Just because he tests negative today or tomorrow doesn't mean he won't start feeling sick or test positive the day after.

So my coworker gets sick—the same one that basically forced me into quarantine—and then her friend goes to get tested after five days without even having symptoms. She tests negative, and the doctor tells her she can just head straight back to work the next day. Like, seriously? I guess rules are just suggestions now. 🙄

I honestly can't make heads or tails of these isolation rules; everyone seems to be playing by a different set of books.
A colleague of mine tested positive, and her doctor told her she needs to wait ten days from when her symptoms first showed up, plus an extra three days symptom-free before she can head back to the office.
Then you look at her husband, and it's a total mess. His doctor counted twelve days starting from the day her test came back positive—even though he’s actually showing symptoms himself! He didn't even get sent in for a test because apparently, since he didn't run a fever, the doctor just assumed he wasn't "infected," despite him having every other symptom his wife has. It's like they're treating him as if he's just self-quarantining rather than actually sick. Meanwhile, for their kid, the isolation period was calculated as just ten days from the mother's initial positive test result.
So yeah, it's completely inconsistent. For the husband and the kid, they basically just started counting from the fifth day after the mom's test.

My husband is under quarantine until tomorrow, and I've been told my own isolation period needs an extra 10 days.
He’s still running a fever today; it hasn't dropped below 103°F lately. She hit 102.2°F. They said he needs to be fever-free for three consecutive days before my 10-day count even begins...
I don't have any symptoms, and we've managed to stay somewhat separated, aside from sharing the WCa.
Does my additional 10-day isolation start tomorrow, or does it only kick in once he's been fever-free for those three days?

Kenneth Nelson26 said:My husband is under quarantine until tomorrow, and I've been told my own isolation period needs an extra 10 days.
He’s still running a fever today; it hasn't dropped below 103°F lately. She hit 102.2°F. They said he needs to be fever-free for three consecutive days before my 10-day count even begins...
I don't have any symptoms, and we've managed to stay somewhat separated, aside from sharing the WCa.
Does my additional 10-day isolation start tomorrow, or does it only kick in once he's been fever-free for those three days?

Wait, why an extra 10 days? Did you actually start showing symptoms or something? Usually, the CDC guidelines say it's 10 days starting from when you were in contact with the infected person—which, in this specific case, would be the day your husband first showed signs.

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I believe it used to be 14 days since your last contact.
Back when that was the rule.
I’m not entirely sure about the current guidelines, but it might still follow that logic where you count 10 days from exposure. Of course, the math shifts depending on whether you catch it from a coworker or someone in your own household—it’s a bit like how different tax brackets work; the calculation changes based on the situation.
The CDC website has all the specifics laid out in detail.

A buddy of mine just hit me up today—he tested positive for COVID. He’s mostly just dealing with some mild symptoms, though. Since he’s a doctor, I guess he had to get tested for work anyway, which is how he found out. He isn't really sure where he picked it up, which is a bit weird since we haven't hung out since our workout session about eight days ago. He thinks they might have done the testing yesterday, or maybe he's been in isolation since then—he mentioned he has to stay home until December 14th. Does anyone know how far back they actually track contacts? I'm not totally sure if he listed us or not, but I figured I'd ask just to be safe!

Basically, "close contacts" means anyone you’ve been hanging out with or even just brushed up against within that 48-hour window right before those first nasty symptoms start kicking in (or, you know, if you don't feel sick at all but you take a test and it comes back positive for COVID-19).

I have a quick question about self-isolation. Basically, one student in my class tested positive for COVID-19, so now the whole class is stuck in isolation. Does this mean we actually have to stay shut in a single room without any contact with the rest of the family? How should we be handling this?

Seriously, you gotta just go full hermit mode from everyone else in the house—like, if you have to hit the bathroom, throw on a mask and then scrub everything down with disinfectant right after
because man, these symptoms can be super sneaky. If your kid caught this thing from that one student, it might not even show up for like six days! And the kicker? They say you’re already contagious before you even feel sick, which is why you don't want to pass it around to the rest of the family who actually *are* allowed to leave the house and go out
.
Apparently, the school district might let a parent stay home to look after the kid while they're on sick leave instead of going to work
. So, honestly, if you can swing it, it's probably best if one parent just goes into isolation with the kid. That way, the little one doesn't end up feeling totally isolated or rejected or whatever
.

Dana Lewis3 said:I have a quick question about self-isolation. Basically, one student in my class tested positive for COVID-19, so now the whole class is stuck in isolation. Does this mean we actually have to stay shut in a single room without any contact with the rest of the family? How should we be handling this?

We’re already working through our second round of isolation because apparently, yet another kid in the class caught it. I just take sick leave to look after my kid. At home, everything is business as usual—we eat together, hang out, the whole bit. It doesn't even cross my mind to lock my child in a bedroom and isolate them from the rest of us.

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Look, I totally get why you made the call to not quarantine your kid—sometimes you just gotta take that risk if they caught something from some other student at school,
but I’ve gotta ask... does everyone just stay holed up at home for those 10 days? Or are the people who aren't officially under isolation still out there hitting the office, heading to class, or grabbing stuff at Target?

I work at a manufacturing plant, and there are five of us stationed in this one large workspace, though we’re spaced out about five feet from one another. The colleague sitting right next to me tested positive for COVID yesterday; his last day in the office was Monday afternoon, and by Tuesday, he was running a fever. We haven't had any prolonged or intimate conversations—just the occasional brief comment here and there while we were swamped with work—though there was one instance where he turned around and sneezed. Curiously, the only person ordered into isolation is the coworker to his left (I’m seated to his right), since those two work more closely together and spend quite a bit of time chatting. I find myself wondering how the rest of us escaped the mandate for isolation; has anyone else dealt with these kinds of inconsistent protocols at their own job? As for me, I showed up to work like normal yesterday and today, though I’ve been self-isolating from my parents at home just to be safe. Today marks the fifth day since my last contact with this infected coworker, and I haven't felt a single symptom. Generally speaking, what is the typical window for symptoms to manifest? To be perfectly honest, it isn't the physical isolation at home that’s weighing on me so much; it's this agonizing anticipation of whether or not I'll start feeling sick. I find myself constantly checking my temperature, obsessively monitoring for any sign of heat because I keep getting the sensation that I'm burning up, even though my readings haven't gone above 97.7 degrees. Overall, I feel fine, perhaps just a bit fatigued, but then again, he’s been working the early shift starting at 5:30 AM this week, so nothing is particularly out of the ordinary.

Keith Barrett2 said:Look, I totally get why you made the call to not quarantine your kid—sometimes you just gotta take that risk if they caught something from some other student at school,
but I’ve gotta ask... does everyone just stay holed up at home for those 10 days? Or are the people who aren't officially under isolation still out there hitting the office, heading to class, or grabbing stuff at Target?

My husband was working remotely this week, but he’ll be out in the field starting Monday. As for me, I have antibodies, so I’m going about my business—hitting the grocery store and leaving the house like usual. My plan is to take them both to get tested for antibodies as soon as the holidays kick off; I’m fairly certain they have them too. Even if I didn't have antibodies, I'd still be heading to the store. It's not like there are any official restrictions placed on me or anything.

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Look, you’ve got confirmed antibodies, so you’re fine. Your family probably has them too if you do,

but I totally disagree with this logic—the idea that if you don't have antibodies, you won't get slapped with an isolation order, yet you'd still be out hitting the grocery store while some potentially infected person sitting at home isn't being isolated,
basically meaning they'd be in super close contact with everyone every single day, just wandering through crowded shops, 🤷

Yeah, sure, "contacts of contacts" who are already isolating don't get official orders,
but then again, the whole point of an isolation order for someone quarantined is that they must stay away from everyone else in the house
(and honestly, unless they offer free hotel stays, which let's face it, they don't, how can anyone stay apart?) so the people leaving the house don't end up becoming spreaders themselves.

Actually, I think the system is totally broken here. Someone staying home to take care of a kid because they're in quarantine
should also be hit with an isolation order (obviously not the ones who are exempt because of antibodies), because most moms—unless they're in some high-risk category—aren't just gonna isolate themselves from their own kids in a situation like that.

But even without these government mandates, where's the damn personal responsibility? Do we really all need a legal order forced down our throats just to act like decent, responsible human beings? 🤔

mellowskipper said:My husband was working remotely this week, but he’ll be out in the field starting Monday. As for me, I have antibodies, so I’m going about my business—hitting the grocery store and leaving the house like usual. My plan is to take them both to get tested for antibodies as soon as the holidays kick off; I’m fairly certain they have them too. Even if I didn't have antibodies, I'd still be heading to the store. It's not like there are any official restrictions placed on me or anything.

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Are you absolutely sure, though? They actually showed symptoms?

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