Should we be social distancing?

[design_mom]

We were also told the family has a 14 day quarantine (or 10 symptom free under the new regs) after the date of last exposure so in this case the day the OP is no longer considered contagious.

That's what they're enforcing here too. My neighbor is a teacher. Her son caught it. Even though he's 17 and able to pretty much isolate himself (own bedroom, separate bathroom, etc), the health department would not allow her 14 day quarantine to start till his 10 day isolation ended, so she was out of work for 24 days. (I thought that seemed harsh because, with a little kid, I'm sure you couldn't really isolate them, but for a 17 year old, they can pretty much take care of themselves. He did not have serious symptoms. But apparently it applies to anyone who lives in the same household as a positive case.)

When my BIL got it back in April, my sister/nieces were allowed to run their quarantine concurrently -- but BIL moved to the basement and didn't come out of the basement for his entire 10 days (no contact, own bathroom down there, etc.) I'm not sure if that's the difference, or if their guidance has changed since April.

I also know that our health department has said that they are not accepting the new CDC guidelines of ending quarantine early with a test. At least, not for return-to-school purposes. No one in my household has been sick, so I haven't dealt with the health department.

Here's what my county health department has on their web page FAQ:
-------
- Why do I need to quarantine for 14 days, when the CDC says 10 days?
The CDC still recommends a quarantine period of 14 days to allow for the lowest risk of transmission, therefore DPHD will not be implementing the alternative option at this point in time. We want to to maintain the best, most optimal quarantine duration to minimize risk of public spread. As more information becomes available, then we will look at it and explore the risk and benefits of the application.
-------
- Why do household contacts need to quarantine for 14 more days after a household case has recovered?
Because household contacts can still develop symptoms and become infectious even after their household case has recovered.

 

[kymom99]

No, that is not how it works. For family living in the same house, "Day 1" for THEM is the day the infected person took their own Covid test. At that point, that person had enough virus to be detected (and thus was shedding infective virus particles). They would start counting at that point, and have to wait until day 14 (Dec 24) to be "cleared."

If any of them develops symptoms, that starts another Day 1 for the purposes of isolation. By day 10, they are also cleared to return to normal activities.

So, to illustrate, let's say Dad takes a Covid test on Dec 10. He gets his positive result on Dec 12. Day 1 for HIM is Dec 10. He needs to isolate for 10 days. He can return to work Dec 21.

Day 1 for the rest of the family is Dec 10 also. By Dec 24, they can all return to regular life as well, or sooner (10 days later if they develop symptoms).

No one has been impacted more than 2 weeks.

If the family members want to exit quarantine early, and dad has been isolating away from them, they can all take tests on or after Dec 12. If the tests are negative, they can return to activities on Dec 21.

My family just went through this.

I think different health departments interpret this differently. I’m hoping to be contacted so I can ask

 

[fly girl]

Since the restaurant staff is “harassing” you perhaps you should pay close attention. Working for an airline you should know what your employer’s rules and regulations are as well as the different countries/regions.

To be fair, the rules change constantly.

She should be checking what certain states and cities allow, or at least ask the front desk at the hotel what are the dining regulations in that city. They’d let the crew know.

As for her employer, if her airline is anything like the one I know it can and does change frequently. Honestly my dh had protocols set one day, and 20 hours later they revised it. And honestly, unless you’re doing something for your personal schedule, you aren’t checking the company portal on a layover.

 

[Heigh-Ho]

I think different health departments interpret this differently. I’m hoping to be contacted so I can ask

That's a good catch, different health departments may be doing this differently.

 

[TLSnell1981]

I think different health departments interpret this differently. I’m hoping to be contacted so I can ask

Absolutely!

 

[DisneyTeacher]

No, that is not how it works. For family living in the same house, "Day 1" for THEM is the day the infected person took their own Covid test. At that point, that person had enough virus to be detected (and thus was shedding infective virus particles). They would start counting at that point, and have to wait until day 14 (Dec 24) to be "cleared."

If any of them develops symptoms, that starts another Day 1 for the purposes of isolation. By day 10, they are also cleared to return to normal activities.

So, to illustrate, let's say Dad takes a Covid test on Dec 10. He gets his positive result on Dec 12. Day 1 for HIM is Dec 10. He needs to isolate for 10 days. He can return to work Dec 21.

Day 1 for the rest of the family is Dec 10 also. By Dec 24, they can all return to regular life as well, or sooner (10 days later if they develop symptoms).

No one has been impacted more than 2 weeks.

If the family members want to exit quarantine early, and dad has been isolating away from them, they can all take tests on or after Dec 12. If the tests are negative, they can return to activities on Dec 21.

My family just went through this.

Different health departments seem to interpret the guidelines differently. My husband and I are both educators, We think my husband contracted covid in his office in our school (8 of 12 people were positive the week before we tested positive). He shared it with me and we both tested positive.

We went to a different county to get tested (we really don’t have access to testing where we live) because they had easily accessed testing.

The county we tested in quarantined our son for 24 days. Our 10 days and then his 14. That same day we got a call from the health department in our county and they said our son was quarantined for 14 days total.

He packed up that day and went back to his college apartment where he lives alone so it didn’t matter. The first health dept released him after 14 days because he was not in our house to be infected during our quarantine.

These two counties boarder each other and have different rules.

 

[DisneyDebbie]

No, that is not how it works. For family living in the same house, "Day 1" for THEM is the day the infected person took their own Covid test. At that point, that person had enough virus to be detected (and thus was shedding infective virus particles). They would start counting at that point, and have to wait until day 14 (Dec 24) to be "cleared."

If any of them develops symptoms, that starts another Day 1 for the purposes of isolation. By day 10, they are also cleared to return to normal activities.

So, to illustrate, let's say Dad takes a Covid test on Dec 10. He gets his positive result on Dec 12. Day 1 for HIM is Dec 10. He needs to isolate for 10 days. He can return to work Dec 21.

Day 1 for the rest of the family is Dec 10 also. By Dec 24, they can all return to regular life as well, or sooner (10 days later if they develop symptoms).

No one has been impacted more than 2 weeks.

If the family members want to exit quarantine early, and dad has been isolating away from them, they can all take tests on or after Dec 12. If the tests are negative, they can return to activities on Dec 21.

My family just went through this.

YES THIS!!!!!

I also went through this in my household, and I spent a very long time on the phone with our Department of Health making sure I understood everything. However, several family members and even my sons place of employment had their own version of what was appropriate... it was frustrating, and I felt like we were being punished and judged...

 

[luvnwdwgal]

Yes, you should be social distancing.

 

[Disneylover7593]

Here the governor has differentiated “while performing work duties” vs off-duty time. During your layover you are technically off-duty and socializing with non-household members. You would be subject to quarantine during layover so should spend that time in your hotel room with meals delivered.

Based on your responses, it sounds more like you want to justify why you should be allowed together rather than understand the rules in different places which frown on your activity. Ultimately you get to choose which path you will follow but don’t be upset when others disagree with your choice.

Hi,

Where is this? How would we get meals delivered to the hotel room besides room service but some hotels aren't offering room service at the moment.

 

[Disneylover7593]

They have to take it off to eat/drink on a trans Atlantic flight, so they are unmasked at work at times. There isn't a place for them to eat at a distance, it is the galley.

Exactly, so on a trans Atlantic flight there are times where we (crew) are around each other unmasked.

 

[Disneylover7593]

To be fair, the rules change constantly.

She should be checking what certain states and cities allow, or at least ask the front desk at the hotel what are the dining regulations in that city. They’d let the crew know.

As for her employer, if her airline is anything like the one I know it can and does change frequently. Honestly my dh had protocols set one day, and 20 hours later they revised it. And honestly, unless you’re doing something for your personal schedule, you aren’t checking the company portal on a layover.

We absolutely do ask at the front desk and we do follow the dining regulations in that city.

 

[Disneylover7593]

If you're always around each other masked at work then yes meeting unmasked should mean you stay well apart from each other which eating at a restaurant during a layover does not allow for this.

There are times we are unmasked around each other while onboard the aircraft.

 

[Disneylover7593]

Since the restaurant staff is “harassing” you perhaps you should pay close attention. Working for an airline you should know what your employer’s rules and regulations are as well as the different countries/regions.

Yes we do know what our employer's policy is.

 

[Donaldswife]

As a flight attendant I work with lots of other crew, often different crew during each layover.

Once we get to the destination we usually have a 1-3 night layover. During this layover we (the team of crew that are working together on the flight after the layover) usually go out for breakfast and dinner together and often sit around the same table closer than 2 meters like we would in normal times. A few staff in restaurants have commented saying we shouldn't all be around the table and then when we tell them we work together and can't social distance in work then they still say that we are behaving inappropriately and should social distance and we have had a few other quite rude comments.

Do you think we should be social distancing during the layover's?

If I were you I would be social distancing and not gathering for meals, as one of you could transmit the virus to all others while unmasked and dining. That being said, I wouldn't comment if I saw you out somewhere. The information has been out there for months and if you as adults want to take that risk it is your business. I have long given up trying to convince others to follow recommendations, and just stay home and away from everyone to avoid getting myself sick. Hopefully in a few months I & my husband will be vaccinated and we can resume in person gathering with others.

 

[Kestryl]

My employer started requiring employees to eat at separate tables at some point over the summer and the rate of transmission from employee to employee went way down. (My employee has been very thorough about contact tracing since March and tests on-site employees regularly- for some it’s up to three times a week.)

 

[dez1978]

Best wishes for you and your family and sorry to hear you are positive

Why would your husband and son need to quarantine for 14 days after the 10 days are up for a total of 24 days? Am I missing something? The clock should start when the exposure is known.

Because on day 10 husband and son were exposed to covid still and might not know they have it/be asymptomatic for several more days. My bff's family has been quarantined for a month now. 1st the 9 yr old tested positive. Mom and dad were negative. Day 9, Mom tested positive. So dad and 17 yr old quarantine starts over. on day 13 after mom tested positive, the 17 yr old tested positive. But the 9 yr could go back to school on day 11 after her positive bc she met all the criteria.

But I work in health care. So even if my child tests positive, I am required to come to work and have a rapid test daily as long as I am not showing any symptoms. Because at this point, despite mask mandates, n95 masks at work and so on, if we quarantined everyone who had contact with someone who was positive, we would have no staff and we can't just close.

 

[Disneylover7593]

My employer started requiring employees to eat at separate tables at some point over the summer and the rate of transmission from employee to employee went way down. (My employee has been very thorough about contact tracing since March and tests on-site employees regularly- for some it’s up to three times a week.)

That wouldn't work for us onboard an aircraft as we (crew) eat and drink in the galley.

 

[Kestryl]

That wouldn't work for us onboard an aircraft as we (crew) eat and drink in the galley.

I don’t know aircrafts very well. We do have break room capacity issues. What we’ve been doing is staggering meal breaks. It’s a pain, cause that means people are eating “lunch” at 2 pm or “dinner” at 10 pm, but again, these actions appear to have reduced employee-to-employee transmission.

I suppose your dining together is “off-duty” so I’m not sure that your employer could limit those interactions. But I will say that eating together does increase risk, and the more often you do it, the higher the risk.

 

[Heigh-Ho]

Because on day 10 husband and son were exposed to covid still and might not know they have it/be asymptomatic for several more days. My bff's family has been quarantined for a month now. 1st the 9 yr old tested positive. Mom and dad were negative. Day 9, Mom tested positive. So dad and 17 yr old quarantine starts over. on day 13 after mom tested positive, the 17 yr old tested positive. But the 9 yr could go back to school on day 11 after her positive bc she met all the criteria.

But I work in health care. So even if my child tests positive, I am required to come to work and have a rapid test daily as long as I am not showing any symptoms. Because at this point, despite mask mandates, n95 masks at work and so on, if we quarantined everyone who had contact with someone who was positive, we would have no staff and we can't just close.

Oh no it's not the day 10 part I was questioning.

The person said " after my 10 days, he and my son are supposed to quarantine another 14 days. So it’s not just me getting it and feel sick but my family having to adjust their lives for nearly a month."

The process I had understood it was the husband and the son would quarantine for up to 14 days. Obviously if symptoms were present or a positive test occurred during that time period from the husband and the son it would be different; that was not part of the conversation.

The person made it sound like her husband and son would quarantine for 24 days regardless while she would be 10 days. From the sounds of it some people's experience matched what I described while others did not, health departments seem to vary on this.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Oh no it's not the day 10 part I was questioning.

The person said " after my 10 days, he and my son are supposed to quarantine another 14 days. So it’s not just me getting it and feel sick but my family having to adjust their lives for nearly a month."

The process I had understood it was the husband and the son would quarantine for up to 14 days. Obviously if symptoms were present or a positive test occurred during that time period from the husband and the son it would be different; that was not part of the conversation.

The person made it sound like her husband and son would quarantine for 24 days regardless while she would be 10 days. From the sounds of it some people's experience matched what I described while others did not, health departments seem to vary on this.

It comes down to how well you quarantine and the last time you were exposed.

I had covid. I was on a ten day quarantine. We have a small home. We have one bathroom. We don’t have spare bedrooms or basement. There’s no way my SO and I can quarantine fully. Technically he’s supposed to quarantine for 14 days after his last exposure to me. He was exposed everyday for those ten days. If I were able to go to a hotel or lock myself in an extra room we would’ve been fine after 14 days.

That’s how it was explained to me anyway.