Introduction
Managing Covid-19 and all of its many implications is a difficult task, especially when nothing is certain and government guidance is constantly updated. We’ve put together some information regarding common questions being asked about Covid-19 symptoms, isolation and testing.
Q – What do I do if I get symptoms of Covid-19?
If you begin to develop any of the Covid-19 symptoms; a high temperature, a new, continuous cough or loss or change of sense of smell or taste:
- Get a test as soon as possible
- Anyone you live with must self-isolate until you’ve received your test result
- Anyone in your support bubble must self-isolate until you’ve received your test result
- Contact your employer
Covid-19 Symptoms
Q – What do I do when I get my result?
If you test negative:
- Keep self-isolating for the rest of the 14 days from when you were last in contact with the person who has Covid-19 – you may get symptoms after being tested
- Anyone you live with can stop self-isolating if they do not have symptoms
- Anyone in your support bubble can stop self-isolating if they do not have symptoms
- Contact your employer
If you test positive:
- Self-isolate for at least 10 days from when your symptoms started – even if it means self-isolating for longer than 14 days
- Anyone you live with must self-isolate for 14 days from when your symptoms started
- Anyone in your support bubble must self-isolate for 14 days from when your symptoms started
- Contact your employer
Q – What if I don’t have any symptoms?
If you do not develop any symptoms of Covid-19 whilst self-isolating:
- You can stop self-isolating after 14 days
- You do not need to have a test
- Contact your employer
Q – How will I be contacted?
If you have been in close contact with someone who has Covid-19 and need to self isolate:
- An email, text or phone call from the NHS Test and Trace – text messages will come from NHS tracing and calls will come from 0300 0135 000
- An alert from the NHS Covid-19 app
- Children under 18 will be contacted by phone wherever possible and asked for their parent or guardian’s permission to continue the call
- You will be asked to sign in to the NHS Test and Trace contact tracing website – https://contact-tracing.phe.gov.uk
- If you cannot use the contact tracing website, they will you
NOTE – The Test and Trace team will not ask for:
- Bank details or any payments
- Details of any accounts
- Passwords or pins by phone
- You to call any premium rate contact number
Managing Employees testing positive for Covid-19
Q – One of our workers has tested positive, should we close the workplace?
- A worker with a confirmed diagnosis should stay at home with immediate effect and employers should advise them to follow the government’s self-isolation advice and apply for a test
- If a worker has symptoms, however mild, or is in a household where someone has symptoms, they should self-isolate, as should all in their household. Under the test and trace system, they will be asked to disclose the places they have visited in the 48 hours prior to their symptoms starting, which may include their workplace.
- Staff who were exposed to the infected colleague should be sent home. Government advice states those who have been in recent close contact with an infected person should self-isolate, breaking the transmission chain.
Q – If an employee was asked to self-isolate or has Covid-19, would it breach privacy to communicate this to the rest of the employees?
If an employee is asked to self-isolate or has Covid-19 this must be communicated to the rest of the employees. If done correctly, this won’t be a breach of privacy. An employer has both a duty of mutual trust and confidence towards all employees and a duty to take care of all employees’ health and safety.
Employers must keep staff informed about potential or confirmed Covid-19 cases amongst other staff. Data protection does not prevent employers honouring their duty to the health and safety of all employees or sharing data with authorities for public health purposes. There are special exemptions in the Data Protection Act 2018 which enable employers to share information where there are risks to the wider public.
Now that testing and tracing systems are up and running employees will be contacted if they have been in close proximity to a colleague who has tested positive for Covid-19.
Employees are more likely to trust the employer’s virus management plans if there is openness about infected persons in the workplace so employers should not try to prevent people finding out, although they may wish to instruct employees not to talk to the media about any cases.
Conclusion
To conclude our managing Covid-19 guidance, we recommend that you make an effort to check up on government guidance every few weeks to ensure you are aware of any updates. We will continue to follow these updates and provide guidance regarding any changes made.
If you are interested in any of our Covid-19 support services, or have any further questions about guidance, please contact us on t: +44 (0)141 244 0181 or e: info@amalgamate-safety.com