Employer's Covid wording for when to stay home has changed

[Tiny]

Omicron must be here... 

My employer policy just changed the rather vague "if you aren't feeling well stay home"   to   specifically stating "if you (or someone in your home) has a slight cold, allergy, or slight sinus infection, stay home."  Along with the other stuff about when to get tested and what to do if the test is positive.    

I'm guessing this means that Omicron - is producing such mild symptoms (in most likely vaccinated people) that they aren't concerned and don't think it's Covid19... 

What is your employer's policy about being in the office?  Are you encouraged to stay home if you have the sniffles or just feel off? 
 

The milder symptoms thing kind of sucks.   I often don't feel well for a day (I wake up congested but it fades by mid morning - but I didn't sleep well - so I'm "off" all day).  If I had an uncomfortable night (hot flashes) and don't sleep well I feel "off" all the next day.   Sometimes I'm just achy and draggy for a day.     I do not believe these things are Covid19 - they are issues I've dealt with for years.   
But now, I'm getting paranoid.   Is this just my typical "I didn't sleep well or did too much heavy lifting the day before?  Or could I have gotten Covid?    Omicron is very contagious... I'm guessing I will be more likely to get the Omicron version...   yep, I'm getting paranoid.  

I wonder if we're going to go back to WFH 5 days a week.    It's year end  and the most intense "work" happens now thru January 31st.   It's going to be a rough ride if lots of people are too sick to even work from home.        

 

[anciana]

I have posted this in another thread, it's definitely here and it looks like we are not catching it yet while testing actual people as much as we are testing wastewater. 



Omicron found in nearly all of Florida county’s wastewater samples

The new omicron variant made up nearly 100% of the coronavirus strains observed this week in the wastewater samples in one Florida county, Orange County Utilities representative Sarah Lux told The Associated Press.


The county — which houses Orlando, home to theme parks like Walt Disney World and Universal Studios — has yet to confirm any COVID-19 infections involving the strain.

-----

As of Thursday, the county, which has recorded 231,979 cases since the start of the pandemic, is seeing an average of 131 daily cases — a 69% uptick in average from two weeks ago, according to The New York Times’ coronavirus tracker.

[teen persuasion]

Not employer, but DS5's school had a new health policy at the beginning of the school year. Basically any possible Covid symptoms meant you should stay home for a week or more: temp, cough, sniffles, sore throat, upset stomach, body aches...

We hit the "what do we do now" stage when DS5 had a sore throat. Technically, we should follow the rules and keep him home. But there's no remote option, so he'd just miss a ton of school needlessly. We got him tested, to rule Covid out, and sent him back to school. No pushback from school.

If every kid followed the rule to the letter, there'd be no one in school (sore muscles from gym class, oops, better stay home). So you know everyone is ignoring it, and it's pointless.

[Deleted]

Whenever my employer has a meeting to tell us someone has tested positive for COVID, at the bottom of the paper they read, it always says “if you aren’t feeling well, stay home, even if you feel up to working”.

I have a lot of issues with my sinuses, including sinus infections. I’ve asked my Doctor and her nurse how would I know the difference between my usual sinus crap and COVID. They both said I wouldn’t be able to tell.

I think it was late last year that one time my sinuses were really acting up and I went to the Doctor. I’d already missed a couple days work, and she told me to stay home another day. The day I was supposed to go back, I still felt like crap, but I got up and got dressed for work. While I was driving to work, I felt like I was doing something wrong, because what if it wasn’t just my sinuses. I knew of someone that thought they just had a bad sinus infection, but actually had COVID and she and her adult daughter who was also sick, both died within 24 hours of each other.

I debated the whole time I was driving to work, wondering what if I did have COVID and gave it to my coworkers in my area and one of them got really sick. I didn’t want to feel like I was responsible for something like that. I was almost at work when I finally pulled over and texted my supervisor and said I wasn’t coming in. Came back home and got back into bed.

If I stayed home every time I have even a slight sinus issue, I’d be home more that I’d be at work. I just try to use my judgement and stay home when it’s bad. That’s still more often than I (and I’m sure my job) would prefer. If I can’t get it to clear up within a couple of days, I call my Doctor so she can tell me what to do.

The “liberal leave” policy they are referencing in my first paragraph, was put into place at the beginning of the pandemic. It is temporary, but has been extended every time it was supposed to expire. Currently, it is set to expire 12/31/2021.

[haapai]

If anything has changed, I have not been told.  I do not expect this to change. 

[Opti]

Dec 17, 2021 12:11:29 GMT -5 Tiny said:

Omicron must be here... 

My employer policy just changed the rather vague "if you aren't feeling well stay home"   to   specifically stating "if you (or someone in your home) has a slight cold, allergy, or slight sinus infection, stay home."  Along with the other stuff about when to get tested and what to do if the test is positive.    

I'm guessing this means that Omicron - is producing such mild symptoms (in most likely vaccinated people) that they aren't concerned and don't think it's Covid19... 

What is your employer's policy about being in the office?  Are you encouraged to stay home if you have the sniffles or just feel off? 
 

The milder symptoms thing kind of sucks.   I often don't feel well for a day (I wake up congested but it fades by mid morning - but I didn't sleep well - so I'm "off" all day).  If I had an uncomfortable night (hot flashes) and don't sleep well I feel "off" all the next day.   Sometimes I'm just achy and draggy for a day.     I do not believe these things are Covid19 - they are issues I've dealt with for years.   
But now, I'm getting paranoid.   Is this just my typical "I didn't sleep well or did too much heavy lifting the day before?  Or could I have gotten Covid?    Omicron is very contagious... I'm guessing I will be more likely to get the Omicron version...   yep, I'm getting paranoid.  

I wonder if we're going to go back to WFH 5 days a week.    It's year end  and the most intense "work" happens now thru January 31st.   It's going to be a rough ride if lots of people are too sick to even work from home.        

 

My understanding from a recent slideshow is that a sinus whole head headache and a runny nose are two of the main symptoms for Omicron. Forget if the slideshow concentrated on vaxed versus unvaxed. I forget the other symptoms, but since I have chronic sinusitis, the two I mentioned are important for me to know. 

I almost always have sinus or allergy issues, so I'd only worry if they were different than what's usual.

[Tiny]

I just found this:

www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/10/13/worst-cold-ever-covid-flu-season/

More commonly, omicron symptoms are headaches, fatigue and sneezing, as well as a runny nose and sore throat — making it difficult to distinguish a case of covid-19 with omicron from the cold, Spector said.

That's helpful.  

And probably what caused the wording change I noted from my employer.    It's more "cold-y" than "flu-y" . Great. 

[Deleted]

Dec 17, 2021 17:32:22 GMT -5 Opti said:

Dec 17, 2021 12:11:29 GMT -5 Tiny said:

Omicron must be here... 

My employer policy just changed the rather vague "if you aren't feeling well stay home"   to   specifically stating "if you (or someone in your home) has a slight cold, allergy, or slight sinus infection, stay home."  Along with the other stuff about when to get tested and what to do if the test is positive.    

I'm guessing this means that Omicron - is producing such mild symptoms (in most likely vaccinated people) that they aren't concerned and don't think it's Covid19... 

What is your employer's policy about being in the office?  Are you encouraged to stay home if you have the sniffles or just feel off? 
 

The milder symptoms thing kind of sucks.   I often don't feel well for a day (I wake up congested but it fades by mid morning - but I didn't sleep well - so I'm "off" all day).  If I had an uncomfortable night (hot flashes) and don't sleep well I feel "off" all the next day.   Sometimes I'm just achy and draggy for a day.     I do not believe these things are Covid19 - they are issues I've dealt with for years.   
But now, I'm getting paranoid.   Is this just my typical "I didn't sleep well or did too much heavy lifting the day before?  Or could I have gotten Covid?    Omicron is very contagious... I'm guessing I will be more likely to get the Omicron version...   yep, I'm getting paranoid.  

I wonder if we're going to go back to WFH 5 days a week.    It's year end  and the most intense "work" happens now thru January 31st.   It's going to be a rough ride if lots of people are too sick to even work from home.        

 

My understanding from a recent slideshow is that a sinus whole head headache and a runny nose are two of the main symptoms for Omicron. Forget if the slideshow concentrated on vaxed versus unvaxed. I forget the other symptoms, but since I have chronic sinusitis, the two I mentioned are important for me to know. 

I almost always have sinus or allergy issues, so I'd only worry if they were different than what's usual.

I also almost always have sinus or allergy issues. But for ME (not judging what you do or saying you should do anything differently), I tend to worry when my symptoms get bad, since I’ve been advised that I probably won’t be able to tell the difference between COVID symptoms and my regular crap symptoms. When I’ve had bad sinus issues or a diagnosed sinus infection even before COVID, I usually feel like I’m running a fever whether my body temp is elevated or not, my muscles ache, and I’m fatigued. So I understand why I was told I probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

Because of my allergies, a runny nose is not uncommon for me. I don’t get headaches often, but when I do, it’s usually related to my sinus issues. 

[Opti]

Dec 17, 2021 18:43:29 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

Dec 17, 2021 17:32:22 GMT -5 Opti said:

My understanding from a recent slideshow is that a sinus whole head headache and a runny nose are two of the main symptoms for Omicron. Forget if the slideshow concentrated on vaxed versus unvaxed. I forget the other symptoms, but since I have chronic sinusitis, the two I mentioned are important for me to know. 

I almost always have sinus or allergy issues, so I'd only worry if they were different than what's usual.

I also almost always have sinus or allergy issues. But for ME (not judging what you do or saying you should do anything differently), I tend to worry when my symptoms get bad, since I’ve been advised that I probably won’t be able to tell the difference between COVID symptoms and my regular crap symptoms. When I’ve had bad sinus issues or a diagnosed sinus infection even before COVID, I usually feel like I’m running a fever whether my body temp is elevated or not, my muscles ache, and I’m fatigued. So I understand why I was told I probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

Because of my allergies, a runny nose is not uncommon for me. I don’t get headaches often, but when I do, it’s usually related to my sinus issues. 

For me, when symptoms get bad is when my sinuses stop draining or stop draining enough. My symptom is inability to sleep which I doubt is a Covid symptom. I need to stay on top of my hydration and humidity levels when I sleep. 

[teen persuasion]

Dec 17, 2021 17:49:45 GMT -5 Tiny said:

I just found this:

www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/10/13/worst-cold-ever-covid-flu-season/

More commonly, omicron symptoms are headaches, fatigue and sneezing, as well as a runny nose and sore throat — making it difficult to distinguish a case of covid-19 with omicron from the cold, Spector said.

That's helpful.  

And probably what caused the wording change I noted from my employer.    It's more "cold-y" than "flu-y" . Great. 

Yeah, I saw that today, too.  If it's difficult to distinguish a cold from omicron, nobody will bother getting tested, or stay home NOW.  Last year we were on high alert.  Now we are getting sloppy and lazy about being vigilant.

We are once again debating whether/who visits my parents on Christmas.  Mom isn't vaccinated, dad has only J&J.  My kids are concerned, because despite state mask mandates there's lots more refusers now (including their coworkers), and local politicians are refusing to enforce mandates.  Nobody wants to be the one to have an asymptomatic case (because *we* are all boosted) and inadvertently give it to them.  But nobody wants to make grandma sad by not coming to visit on Christmas!  Even if it is for her own good.

I'm tired of worrying about them.  Every variant is *more* contagious.  When I read about Cornell and the omicron outbreak there, I don't know how mom & dad can continue to evade catching it.  Cornell was 97% vaccinated, and they are primarily young/healthy, and it still spread like crazy - 1300 positives in a week!

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Dec 17, 2021 17:49:45 GMT -5 Tiny said:

I just found this:

www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/10/13/worst-cold-ever-covid-flu-season/

More commonly, omicron symptoms are headaches, fatigue and sneezing, as well as a runny nose and sore throat — making it difficult to distinguish a case of covid-19 with omicron from the cold, Spector said.

That's helpful.  

And probably what caused the wording change I noted from my employer.    It's more "cold-y" than "flu-y" . Great. 

Based on that I've had COVID going back to 2018.

[tractor]

Dec 19, 2021 11:03:11 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

Dec 17, 2021 17:49:45 GMT -5 Tiny said:

I just found this:

www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/10/13/worst-cold-ever-covid-flu-season/

That's helpful.  

And probably what caused the wording change I noted from my employer.    It's more "cold-y" than "flu-y" . Great. 

Based on that I've had COVID going back to 2018.

I've had COVID since 1972, I have no idea what it's like not to have at least one of those symptoms. Tractor's allergic to everything "natural"

[Tiny]

Dec 19, 2021 11:03:11 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

Dec 17, 2021 17:49:45 GMT -5 Tiny said:

I just found this:

www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/10/13/worst-cold-ever-covid-flu-season/

That's helpful.  

And probably what caused the wording change I noted from my employer.    It's more "cold-y" than "flu-y" . Great. 

Based on that I've had COVID going back to 2018.

Yeah, the change in symptoms just makes it harder to determine if I'm not feeling great because of the same old/same old I always have - OR if it's maybe more serious.     I don't want to be the one to give Covid19 to someone who then has a bad outcome from getting it.   Especially one of my pregnant relatives or an older relative.         

I don't want to have to be included in the group of people who "they could have gotten it anywhere"  is meant to comfort me  who might have given it to them.