AIBU to expect those who test Covid positive to tell others?

LovelyLady

I’d send my apologies stating I’m not attending as I don’t want to be around anyone with COVID
As we’re not told who has COVID, I don’t know how close I’d be and could be at risk of infection.

You and I are reading this situation very differently.

I assumed that the reports of Covid came in after the meeting, so the infected people didn't know they had it when they were there, but are letting people know so that they can test.

Are you assuming that they have called the secretary to say that they are infected but are going to come along anyway?

That might explain my confusion at why the OP needs to know the names - I can't imagine anyone doing that (I mean, why tell anyone if you are planning to come in like a plague dog?), but I suppose you never know.

win

The only reason you would want to know their names is to have your curiosity satisfied. You do not need to know names for any other reason but I think you feel as a friend you are entitled to know
. You have met in a room with some friends who has since proved positive, it is totally immaterial where you were in relation to whoever they were. You say you only sat next to a couple of people even better as your chances of having caught anything is therefore probably less than others. Just be grateful you are still showing negative and forget it.

... you seem pretty sure that the OP's motive is just idle curiosity!

You could be wrong - she might simply want to know who they are, the better to assess her risk.

But it's not "totally immaterial" where she was in relation to where the affected were, because if she knew who they were and then realised she'd not been anywhere near them, she'd probably feel there was much less chance of becoming infected.

Doodledog

*If you only saw the person at a distance and weren't really talking to them you might make one decision. If you were chatting to them for 15 minutes or sitting beside them for most of the evening you might make another.*
What decisions can you make?

I am also being very careful because of underlying conditions, so I am interested to know what I could do if I heard that named people had reported having Covid at somewhere I'd been, and how that would differ from what I could do if I just knew that some people had taken ill.

All I can think of to do is to test every couple of days to see if I've got it, but that would be the same whether I knew who the 'culprits' were or not.

In our case, those of us who had spent time talking closely with the person or sitting beside her cancelled various events where we would be with vulnerable people or, in one case, with a family member who had an operation scheduled in a few days.

Those who hadn't been within 2 metres at any stage didn't feel the need to be as careful.

I would be pretty sure that those infected will not be attending the next rehearsal. It is maybe fairly safe to assume that anyone who might have caught Covid from other choir members will by now have tested positive and will also not attend.

I shall do a test tomorrow and if negative, I will then make a decision whether or not to attend tomorrow’s rehearsal.

For most people now Covid seems not to be serious, but it might be, for vulnerable people.
Even a mild case can have side effects, or long Covid. My daughter-in-law has vertigo since she caught Covid( for the third time) and has been unable to work since January. She works in cancer research. Her partner is currently being treated for cancer, so is in isolation.

There are no easy answers.

I personally think that it is the sensible and moral thing to do to tell others when one has an infectious illness. After all various ‘bugs’ are often endemic in the community at some time-sickness bugs, ‘flu, chicken pox and the rest. I always tell my circle of contacts if I catch one and always have done. I have suffered from stomach problems for many years and a stomach bug is nasty for me so I expect anyone I know to inform me if they get infected. Then it’s my choice to keep away or not. I would be very angry if anyone my daughter knows didn’t tell her if they have Covid as she has a lifelong and potentially serious respiratory illness. It could be construed as a ‘private’ issue I suppose but I myself see it as a community responsibility.

Hopefully the ones testing positive are not attending. Therefore there is no need for naming names

The school my son’s girlfriend works in has told staff they must come into work if they test positive unless they feel too unwell. Let’s hope the students in that school don’t have vulnerable members of their family.

Update.
Nine choir members have now tested positive, so tonight’s rehearsal is cancelled, as a precaution.

I know I've said this before but, if you are fully vaccinated/boosted. Why are you bothered? Moreover, are those who've tested positive fully vaccinated too? If they are, surely this should tell you something.

Lucca

My bloke got a text today saying he’d been in contact with someone contagious and to order a PCR….. SCAM !
I told him to definitely not click on the link. And to ignore the message,

I got one of those a few days ago too.

My first thought was how, as I hadn't been near enough to anyone else all week apart from my DH, to have triggered a warning. DS and family were away on holiday so I hadn't even mixed with them or done school pick up like I usually do.
That instantly rang alarm bells - then I noticed the lack of any personalised details in the message too.

I can see why people might fall for them though.

effalump

I know I've said this before but, if you are fully vaccinated/boosted. Why are you bothered? Moreover, are those who've tested positive fully vaccinated too? If they are, surely this should tell you something.

People who have been vaccinated can still get covid.
Even if it is mild, there can still be after effects. Long covid is no joke. Did you not read about my daughter in law with vertigo? Or my son with cancer, whose immune system is compromised?
There are still good reasons to try to avoid getting covid.

effalump

I know I've said this before but, if you are fully vaccinated/boosted. Why are you bothered? Moreover, are those who've tested positive fully vaccinated too? If they are, surely this should tell you something.

Being fully vaccinated does not prevent you from contracting the virus - what it does do is make it less likely that you will suffer the more debilitating / serious effects of it.

Which is what the flu vaccine does, also.

I thought everyone knew that?

In spite of the fact that Omicron appears to be less serious with - for many - only mild symptoms, it's still an unknown quantity and some individuals, including the fit and healthy, suffer debilitating and lengthy effects from it so, surely, it's best to avoid sitting close to an infected person who is exhaling whilst singing - as the virus is air-borne?

Don't really understand this, if they have either a sore throat, and are coughing and sneezing surely they wouldn't attend the choir practice. Everyone is testing before they attend so don't really understand this thread

melp1

Don't really understand this, if they have either a sore throat, and are coughing and sneezing surely they wouldn't attend the choir practice. Everyone is testing before they attend so don't really understand this thread

You can have covid with no symptoms at all and sometimes a Lft won't pick it up

The title of the thread is a bit misleading.

The members who have tested positive have informed the choir’s secretary, who in turn has informed other members.

So yes, YABU in what you say actually. Everyone has been told.

I'm surprised you are implying that 9 members of the choir have since the meeting caught covid.
When 1 in 4 in a household has it, and the other members don't catch it, that means your choir of 40 plus (?) people must be unlucky.

Josieann

I'm surprised you are implying that 9 members of the choir have since the meeting caught covid.
When 1 in 4 in a household has it, and the other members don't catch it, that means your choir of 40 plus (?) people must be unlucky.

Stating, not implying, that 9 members have tested positive since last week. Nobody knows how they may have caught Covid. The choir has around 80 members.

Thank you.
That number of people, 80, singing together is a bit of a breeding ground then.

Calendargirl

The title of the thread is a bit misleading.

The members who have tested positive have informed the choir’s secretary, who in turn has informed other members.

So yes, YABU in what you say actually. Everyone has been told.

Titles cannot say everything. You do need to read the opening post for detail. My issue was that I would hope people would be willing to allow us to know their names, to enable us to work out how close we were sitting. Now that numbers have grown to nine, I accept that names are almost immaterial. The following rehearsal has been cancelled. I guess many members would have stayed away anyway, as a precaution.

Josieann

Thank you.
That number of people, 80, singing together is a bit of a breeding ground then.

Obviously singing is a risky activity, but precautions were in place, ventilation, testing, spacing etc, the alternative was not to restart.

Most of us feel that given the precautions, we were comfortable with the risk. Probably less risky than going into a crowded pub, or public transport at rush hour.

We had a committee meeting on Wednesday morning and yesterday one of the people there tested positive. She emailed all the others to tell us. It's what I would expect anyone to do, but I agree the choir secretary can't name the person unless permission is given, just let them know there is a case. On our committee we all have everyone's email.

Josieann - the current Omicron strain is so infectious and able to evade vaccine that if one person in a household gets it, the rest of the household has a high probability of getting it, despite vaccination and booster doses.

So I don't think choir members were particularly unlucky, just show that there's a lot of Covid around and very easily spread.

Farmor15

Josieann - the current Omicron strain is so infectious and able to evade vaccine that if one person in a household gets it, the rest of the household has a high probability of getting it, despite vaccination and booster doses.

So I don't think choir members were particularly unlucky, just show that there's a lot of Covid around and very easily spread.

I stick to my original post about the numbers in a household.
This is from the bmj and told to me by a gp.

Covid-19: One in four vaccinated people living in households with a covid-19 case become infected, study findsBMJ2021;375doi:https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n2638

I don't like to get into arguments on Gransnet, but the BMJ study was published in October 2021 and was in connection with Delta variant. More recent research published by CDC on Omicron shows that it spreads more easily in households.

www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7109e1.htm

The overall conclusion was that 1 in 2 household contacts were infected.

Research in other countries on Omicron variant, particularly recent subvariants, confirms these findings. Part of the reason seems to be that vaccination is less effective against the new variants.