I have been pinged

sweetgirl2015

Hi,
Probably a silly question, but an annoying one non the less. 

I'm a full time carer for my hubbys parents, as he works full time and long hours so it was decided ages ago for me to take on the roll of caring for them, which is everything from washing them to getting their shopping, I also help a close neighbour too.
But on Wednesday early hours of the morning my app pinged saying I got to self isolate for 8 days. But this means overnight I got to abandon caring for these people which puts their lives in jepordy. 
I rang 119 for advice and they said do a home kit test to rule out if you have covid, but sadly you still have to self isolate.
But how are people like myself a carer meant to cope at such short notice?
The problem is solved for now as we managed to call on someone we know, but they go back to work themselves on Monday.
Any ideas? 

lisyloo

Any other family members available?
If not I'd be calling social services right now.

Presumably someone can get enough shopping this weekend?

Pollycat

If you had an accident in non-covid days and was unable to provide care, what would you have done?

It's the same situation and maybe one you should give thought to in the future.

Whether you MUST self-isolate depends on how you're alerted

Exactly how you are contacted and told to self-isolate is key here. As Martin explains above, if you're pinged by the NHS Covid-19 app in England or Wales (or the equivalent apps in Scotland and Northern Ireland), it's not a legal requirement that you self-isolate, though you are still strongly encouraged to do so.

However if you are called and told to self-isolate by the NHS Test & Trace service in England, the equivalent Test and Protect service in Scotland or the Test, Trace, Protect service in Wales, there's no wiggle room – you MUST self-isolate and if you don't, you could be fined. (Northern Ireland has its own contact tracing service that works in a similar way – we're double checking the exact rules there and will update this story when we hear back.)

Source:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2021/07/martin-lewis-pingdemic-financial-support/?_ga=2.222208920.140416307.1626948603-566609291.1626948603

If I was a carer and was pinged, I'd self-isolate if someone could do the caring.

If there was nobody to step in for me, I would do tests and if they were negative, I'd continue the caring if there were daily things that needed to be done such as getting them up and dressed and food preparation. But I would minimise the time I spent with them.

If it was a case of washing them, I'd think they could manage for a few days.

Is there nobody who can help out for the 3 days next week?

Can't your husband take annual leave?

No adult children?

No neighbours?

jon81uk

There is no legal need to isolate from an app notification.
But if you do have covid you may pass it on to others, you need to decide whether the risk of giving them covid is worse the risk if you can't arrange alternative care from the local authority.
But if test & trace phone you then you need to isolate.

I would suggest doing twice weekly lateral flow tests anyway if you are caring for them, and now you could do daily tests if you really can't get alternative car arranged.

lisyloo

Personally I would be more terrified of passing on Covid to an elderly/frail person than I would about them not having a wash for a few days.
I'm making an assumption about their vulnerability but if they can't wash themselves then I'd say that's a fair assumption.

Maybe your husband has to do the minimum amount of caring whilst also working long hours?

Are they able to pay for any carers to come in?
Contact social services?

Whoever is helping at the weekend should be able to get shopping for the duration.

You need something in place longer term e.g. you could get flu

JJ_Egan

Whats the alternative to coping at short notice ? Carry on  and spread Covid .

lisyloo

JJ_Egan said:

Whats the alternative to coping at short notice ? Carry on  and spread Covid .

To be fair to the OP, they were asking for options to cope.

Those are 

1) Use volunteers for the tasks that can be - personal care probably not but shopping definitely
2) annual leave
3) hubby being very tired for 8 days
4) minimum necessary care for 8 days
5) emergency dependents leave (maybe unpaid or hols)
6) pay for private carers
7) call social services

got any others?

briskbeats

Could someone explain this.

Friend and sister met up at a pub and sat outside for 2 hours. Both got pinged. Friend’s ping said 6 days self isolation. Her sister, 8 days. Why? The only time my friend’s sister left home was to pick up a prescription for her child at pharmacy.

Shows how unreliable the app is.

Both friend and sister have deleted the app 

Torry_Quine

briskbeats said:

Could someone explain this.

Friend and sister met up at a pub and sat outside for 2 hours. Both got pinged. Friend’s ping said 6 days self isolation. Her sister, 8 days. Why? The only time my friend’s sister left home was to pick up a prescription for her child at pharmacy.

Shows how unreliable the app is.

Both friend and sister have deleted the app 

They were pinged for different occasions. One was 4 days ago, 6 left. The other 2 days ago so 8 left. 

briskbeats

Torry_Quine said:

briskbeats said:

Could someone explain this.

Friend and sister met up at a pub and sat outside for 2 hours. Both got pinged. Friend’s ping said 6 days self isolation. Her sister, 8 days. Why? The only time my friend’s sister left home was to pick up a prescription for her child at pharmacy.

Shows how unreliable the app is.

Both friend and sister have deleted the app 

They were pinged for different occasions. One was 4 days ago, 6 left. The other 2 days ago so 8 left. 

Friend’s only visit outside home was the meal out. Her sister went out the day after to collect a prescription from pharmacy. She was only in the pharmacy for a few minutes.

Both sisters WFH and partners work away from home. One is a mechanic and the other works for National Grid.

Still find the app flawed 

Pollycat

This is taking the OP's original question off-topic which -imho- is unfair.