I made a mistake and feel so guilty

I would not worry OP. If the assistant asked me if I was alright, I would have said yes, paid and left without engaging. I certainly would not let her tell me off.
Not all people have people to help them so they need to go out. Hospital staff are being asked yo ho into work with mild covid symptoms.
I know some people on here are vunerable, but some have people to help them, but some don't, what are they supposed to do.

We are all responsible for our own health and safety. I have asthma and have had cancer treatment so I know there could be a risk when I mix with others.
I want to enjoy my life so will not stay at home alone or expect others to curtail their own lives to accommodate my vulnerability although I draw the line at people who are quite obviously ill mixing with others.

The OP should have waited and done her test at home. Then she, like many others, would not have known she was positive on going in the shop.

No need then to tell the assistant anything, or to feel guilty.

Parsley you are walking amongst Covid flu and colds everytime you walk out your front door
The poor lady needed some medication she’s doing nothing different to 99%of the population now No one is staying at home there are no more rules about testing/ masks or staying in
I can understand some ill people being very cautious but as with colds and all bugs it’s up to each individual to make their own rules not up to you to be harsh to anyone going about their needs

My medic dd says they’re not seeing Covid coming through A&E nor is it reflected in hospital admissions. There is flu about, though.

Lots of people in workplaces are in with covid 🙄 I would rather they stay home but the rules have changed

Tests are easy enough to buy , I got a pack from Amazon which I have yet to use but I really think OP need not beat themselves up and nor should anybody else.
OP said “the shop was quiet and I kept my distance” TBH I am on my own now and if I needed paracetamol or milk so that I could hunker down for a few days - why should I not?
Not everybody has somebody at home or a friendly neighbour to help out -I would be very stuck (which is why I have industrial quantities of Lemsip !)

This is why some vulnerable people are still very wary of going to hospitals/doctors/crowded places in case they catch something.

mumofmadboys

I understand the current advice to NHS staff is that they should carry on going to work if they test positive for covid

Same advice to staff at the school my daughter works in and I imagine most schools.

I don't think we can easily find COVID test kits anymore. When I felt rotten in the summer and was about to have a party I bought test kits (£9 for 5) tested negative and went ahead with the party
Months later I went to my GP as I was still coughing. She said I may have had COVID or one of the variations which don't show on the tests
She also told me that advice to health workers was to stay home if you felt ill but otherwise go to work as usual.
Covid has been downgraded.

Germanshepherdsmum

I find that really frightening SueDonim.

As a frequent visitor to A&E that worries me too. To think that immunocompromised patients may be treated by a clinician, who has Covid, is terrifying!

lemsip

*not many people do tests now*

yes and that is the trouble. people walking around amongst others with coughs and colds and not doing a test in case they have covid and have to isolate.

I suspect many do not even have tests anymore at home and as forced isolation was quite a while ago this cannot be a reason

I find that really frightening SueDonim.

I am afraid that I would have told you off as well and given you a wide berth. I will be very annoyed if I catch covid again from someone who knows that they have tested positive and then still goes out. Surely we don't still need to be told how to behave.

The Uk[or is it the government or NHS or both] seem to be more blase about coughs/colds etc in general.
School children are supposed to go to school with all sorts.

I dont agree with it all myself.
Makes the nation sicker in my opinion.

mumofmadboys

I understand the current advice to NHS staff is that they should carry on going to work if they test positive for covid

That’s the advice where my dd is an A&E medic. You go to work unless you have a fever or feel too ill to go in. Nor do they test anyone patients unless there is a specific reason to do so.

not many people do tests now

yes and that is the trouble. people walking around amongst others with coughs and colds and not doing a test in case they have covid and have to isolate.

If the public, in general, is now blasé about Covid, they must be equally blasé about flu which can be equally debilitating and, in some cases, dangerous. I don't think that a cold is 'just a cold' for people who are vulnerable. while we were still wearing masks, it was evident that there were fewer colds around that winter. Makes you think, doesn't it!

For many many people it has not been and will not be in the future just a cold. I would hope that anyone knowingly infected would take great measures to avoid infecting others.

This!

My daughter has long covid following the infection in December 2022. She has not been able to work since Jan 2023 and possibly will not in 2024. My formerly sporty and active young daughter has to rest several times a day.
I am in remission from a blood cancer and my husband has severe COPD so we are keeping our distance from Joe Public.

I shop at 8.00 in the morning when the supermarket is quiet and only meet friends for coffee outside. Tricky in this cold weather now. My life is no longer "normal" and certainly neither is my daughter's.

For many many people it has not been and will not be in the future just a cold. I would hope that anyone knowingly infected would take great measures to avoid infecting others.

My SIL went out on NewYears Eve with a group of people. Felt fine but woke up the next day with a cough. My daughter contacted me, told me not to go round as he’d tested positive. He’d contacted the people he’d been out with to warn them. Isolated himself from the rest of the family till he tested negative. So some of us are still taking covid seriously. I know of several people that say they haven’t been the same since contracting covid. One friend says he’s permanently tired, another who’s in a walking group says she now struggles to keep up with everyone. Living with it doesn’t mean ignoring it.

Indeed. Just a few days ago we were talking about Derek Draper - and there are many suffering, to a greater or lesser extent, from long covid. I think many have become very blasé about it since rules were abandoned. I’m not suggesting the OP is blasé as she later worried about what she had done, and hopefully there were no adverse consequences, but so many are now treating it like the common cold, hence it spreads and still kills.

You kept your distance and you needed to buy things. I just think I would wear a mask if I had covid.

I agree with Marydoll and GSM. You tested positive for covid but you still went into a shop? The assistant could have been immune compromised, others in the shop might have caught it from you too. You could have stayed home and got someone to get stuff for you or shopped online. I think you were very selfish and I don't understand those who are downplaying covid. It's still here and it still causes damage to people.

I agree Marydoll. You are not alone. I only have asthma and epilepsy (the latter for some reason making covid more serious), not the health problems you have, but I have groceries, meat and fish delivered and mainly shop online because I can’t face the danger which crowded places present with no requirement for testing, isolating or wearing a mask. It frightens me that people with covid can mix with everyone with no requirement for isolating or using a mask. I am fully vaccinated but that isn’t a silver bullet. I could have been in the shop OP used - it just happened to be quiet. It would be nice to think that if someone knew they had covid they would avoid others - pie in the sky. Nobody knows how vulnerable the person they happen to encounter may be.