Close contact - how long these days before you are in the clear?

Supercell

So my wife was out with friends two nights ago , all hugs and kisses goodbye... One of them messaged her last night to say she is feeling ill and testing positive.

We all had it last November so are hoping we still have some immunity in our systems, how long should it be before she can consider herself in the clear?

DLink

Close contact isn't a thing any more, carry on as you would have done before covid...........

odyssey06

The median incubation period for Omicron is 3-4 days according to CDC research. That's the median so it is possible for it to kick in later than that.

Suggest getting in a few antigen tests if you have not already got some.

https://www.health.com/condition/infectious-diseases/coronavirus/what-is-incubation-period-omicron-covid-19

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/clinical-care/clinical-considerations-presentation.html#:~:text=A%20study%20conducted%20during%20high,period%20of%203%E2%80%934%20days.

Supercell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120305032#Comment_120305032

Thanks, sounds like sensible advice. She is a healthcare worker in a care home so its not just her health she is concerned about.

fun loving criminal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120304763#Comment_120304763

Until you show symptoms.

DLink

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120305284#Comment_120305284

But all legal restrictions have been removed. You can be blue in the face with covid and you still don't need to do anything.

Supercell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120305481#Comment_120305481

No, she works in a care home, maybe you missed that.

Micky 32

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120305536#Comment_120305536

So as long as she works in a care home she should never socialise again?

i know lots of healthcare workers that socialise. It’s great that they do.

fun loving criminal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120305421#Comment_120305421

https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/3361b-public-health-updates/#

You are still required to isolate if you have symptoms.

crusd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120305632#Comment_120305632

I dont think the OP had or has a problem with their wife socialising. They are just asking a simple question as to how long they should be on the watch out for because of the nature of their work

Micky 32

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120306389#Comment_120306389

Ah right, but why go into so much detail on how she became a close contact? The post sounds like shaming to me, sure who knows i might be wrong .

miamee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120306421#Comment_120306421

I think they were just illustrating that the wife was in very close contact with her friend who now has Covid so the chance of catching it is maybe stronger than if they just waved hello.

mykrodot

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120306421#Comment_120306421

agreed, those days are gone, you could pick Covid up anywhere. Nobody tests anymore. I was sick with a respiratory bug 2 weeks ago, no temperature, no aches but fairly dosed. Why would I get a test, Covid is a distant memory now??? I just do as I did long before, take a few Lemsips, early nights, Vitamin D and Vitamin C.......

Micky 32

”I think they were just illustrating that the “”wife was in very close contact with her friend””

…and that’s all the info that’s needed in my opinion.

Anyway to answer the OP question here is my experience. My father wakes up on a Thursday feeling a bit off and tests positive. I’m a close contact. I get symptoms on Sunday afternoon. My partner is exposed to me on the Sunday and she begins symptoms on Wednesday. So about 3 ish days.

Don’t depend too much on Antigen tests. I felt totally fine the Sunday morning. I did a test as a courtesy to my partner before i went to her house. I tested negative. That afternoon i started feeling caught at the back of my throat. I went home to do a test. The second line emerged faintly. My partner still caught it from me. I was only about 2-3 hours in her company and had tested negative that morning.

CalamariFritti

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120306366#Comment_120306366

Are you sure you didn't confuse 'required' with 'advised'?

DLink

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120306366#Comment_120306366

The HSE "requirements" are only guidelines. What are the penalties for noncompliance with these HSE requirements?

This is another case of the government fudging things and making out that it's a legal requirement when it isn't.

A mask isn't a legal requirement when you visit a doctor, hospital, pharmacy, etc, again, they're just guidelines dressed as requirements but with no penalties for noncompliance.

All the emergency covid laws have expired and vanished from the statue books, and with them so did the legal requirement to isolate.

Feel free to prove otherwise, but it has to be a proper legal requirement with actual legal penalties & consequences for noncompliance, and not just a HSE "requirement" that in fact is only a guideline.

Report someone to the Blue Beach Dancers (aka the Gardai) for breaking the HSE covid isolation requirements or for not wearing a mask in a doctor's surgery and see what their response is.

DLink

https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/aac74c-guidance-on-safe-use-of-face-coverings/#

Just an example regarding the face mask in healthcare guidelines, they're "advice" now, not mandatory.

With effect from Monday 28 February 2022, the mandatory requirement to wear masks has been removed. The public health advice remains that masks should continue to be worn on public transport and in healthcare settings.

fun loving criminal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120307508#Comment_120307508

Just because there's no legal requirement anymore, doesn't mean you can go around spreading whatever you think you have. Nobody wants what you have.

Employers still have a legal requirement for the health and safety towards their employees and people on their premises. Nobody goes to work to get hurt or have an accident. So why is it ok to spread whatever you have?

DLink

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120309731#Comment_120309731

You've become too used to having the law protect you from someone with a cough or a sniffle, everything has rightfully reset back to the way it was before the pandemic.... take your chances.

No one cared if you pick up a cold or flu at work before the pandemic, now covid can be added to that list.

Yes, it's still a buzzword that some people like to make a bit of a deal about, but like the cold and flu it's most likely not going to kill you.

Yeah, you'll feel miserable for a few days, but you also get to paid to stay at home for a few days and watch Netflix.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120305421#Comment_120305421

If you had AIDS would you continue to ride around you? You don't need the law to tell you to do the right thing...

DLink

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120310210#Comment_120310210

I'm happily married I'll have you know, therefore I don't ride around.

Mrs OBumble

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120309731#Comment_120309731

Because that's how human immune systems work.

Sconsey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120309731#Comment_120309731

You're arguing with people that have very little empathy, and think they know more about public health than the qualified, experienced experts that have dedicated their lives to the subject.

Goldengirl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120310264#Comment_120310264

...strange comment given the OP's wife's occupation .? The point is that she is in healthcare for older people , not just some young healthy person with a good immune system who doesn't have to think of anyone else.

There is such a thing as professional responsibility for some occupations .

celt262

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120323420#Comment_120323420

You would think that someone who works in healthcare would know the craic at this stage.

Don't Chute!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120323187#Comment_120323187

The world has returned to pre Covid thinking. Whether you like it or not. This thing some posters here have of trying to retrospectively apply Covid rules to what we did before has to stop. It just shows what huge psychological damage has been done to some people by the constant hysterical scaremongering.

WaterWipes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120332987#Comment_120332987

And what did she do before covid? I highly doubt she even gave it a second thought, same as the rest of us.

As StarMix66 said earlier, you've become too used to the law protecting you from someone else's cough or sniffle.

Feel free to join the rest of us in the pre-covid thinking world.

Don't Chute!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120332987#Comment_120332987

I really don’t think you understand what I am saying. Whether that is genuine or willful I’m not sure. As has been said a thousand times on these threads if someone wants to wear a mask they can. Just stop trying to force everyone else to. Also stop trying to apply Covid rules to what we did before it simply wasn’t like that and you know it.

Sconsey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120332393#Comment_120332393

You can try to bury your head in the sand and claim everyone else is hysterical, but it does not change the fact that we are now living with a virus that is far more virulent than the flu and unfortunately it is not going away. The world changes, people respond to those changes and act accordingly, this means taking some minor precautions like trying not to spread a virus in a care home.

You can pretend Covid does not exist, never happened, whatever.....the reality is it happened, it is here to stay and some changes are required in how we behave as a result. Your 'pre-covid' world is in the past, it is history.

pc7

If she works in a care home then they should give her guidance on what to do, other than that is most every other job its don't come to work sick

Micky 32

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120333883#Comment_120333883

Have you actually stuck your head outside since covid began? “Your pre covid world is in the past, it is history” a rubbish statement.

My pre covid world and for many more isn’t history. We can do all the things like it was 2019. Pubs, restaurants, concerts , stadiums etc all full again.

Not to mention airports are very busy. i have flown transatlantic about 6 times in the past year. Life couldn’t be better or more normal to be honest. Oh , at Dublin airport i probably witnessed about 2/3 people wearing masks.

Life has moved on for the people who didn’t get mentally scarred by all the scaremongering.