Coughing in the office ?! Need advice plz!

[Keikochan]

Hmm, I think i'm taking a different approach based on my own experience. I have a history of terrible health anxiety, and in the first lockdown developed severe ocd which saw me housebound. It's taken me a lot to get back to work and back outside, and back near people. I have sympathy for anyone who feels this virus is a very real threat. I was lucky in that I had a lot of support, I'd have hated to have been viewed in the same way so my original point still stands, I hope that this op gets an answer quickly and feels reassured. I also hope the other person is OK too.

I can understand where you are coming from. I am in the very high risk category and very much understand the need for safety & common sense. However it must not be forgotten that there are many of us who already feel very isolated (all the time not just because of covid & lockdown, lockdown is every day because we physically can't get outside and move around and be independent). It is very ignorant to assume things about others! I feel so bad for this guy & hope he is OK not just physically but also mentally because I know if I was him I'd feel so upset & scared about people in office being ignorant and talking to managers about me. I would be in tears. I hope someone in management can understand and reassure him it is OK and look out for him. He seems to be grand to function in life so other peoples ignorance shouldn't stop him.

 

[BettyCrocker]

So I have been working from
Home since March but have to go into the office every so often for a week straight to do a certain job role.

ive been in today and yesterday and there is this guy in who is coughing constantly !! Im
Talking every few seconds ! He’s about 5 metres away from me and we are socially
Distanced!

we have to wear masks but not when sitting at our desks

anyway I spoke to my manager as worried as my husband is high risk and said has anyone asked him if he has had a test - apparently they spoke to him and it’s asthma that gets worse in the cold!

fair enough I guess but surely they should not be allowing him in until he can show a negative test!

he’s agency so won’t get paid if he is off sick
!!

I really don’t want to go in and today felt like I wasgoing to cry - silly I know but I got really worked up!!

my boss said she could move me but the office has no windows so no fresh air circulation and need to be by the printer for this role !!

im due in the rest of the week and a day next week!

wha would you guys do?’

talk to him? Just explain you are worried? Could you rearrange your office space to have a printer beside you in another room? Could he work in another space?

 

[LaurieLaurie]

Maybe he is "off sick" because people are being c*nts and accusing him of being irresponsible & spreading a horrible illness even though he has advised that he has asthma which is a chronic long term condition which is not contagious and he is not being believed? So in fact he is not "off sick" for the reasons you are hinting at but because he is feeling very hurt that someone is complaining to management about him and legally he does not have to tell anyone about his asthma but he has in good faith and now he is being called a liar.
Perhaps if you are so worried you should stay home and they can give your job to someone else?

He’s coughing. He shouldn’t be at work!

 

[No style rocky]

i understand the point you’re making, but about this I disagree.

edited to add, the interesting debate for me is wether the OP has or has not created a toxic work environment for this fella.

 

[MaxieMoo]

There are extremsly different transmission risks between covid and HIV. It's not unreasonable to request someone has a test if they have a new cough. If someone won't get tested for a new cough, it's not unreasonable for a manager to request that person isolates or provides a negative test as there is a real risk of transmission. If someone has HIV and knowingly has unprotected sex with someone without disclosing their hiv status they can face legal charges. I think your point of discrimination only holds if this person has not had a new cough, but still gets constantly penalised for this. The mp who travelled by train was very irresponsible travelling by train knowing she had covid. I wouldn't say the same if someone with hiv was using a train.

I don't think it's unreasonable for the op to be worried either. They have a partner who has a high chance of dying from covid. It's a sensitive issue, I hope the manager is able to work through this sensitively and sensibly.

I'm not sure it was described as a new cough. It is a cough that they have due to their asthma. It's not the same thing.

 

[Trixabellee9393]

I’ve worked in a school with 60 kids in the bubble since September and u can imagine the coughs and colds they get? I was full time at morrisons from jan to September. One person coughing because of asthma wouldn’t really alarm me? Some of the kids have chronic coughs due to asthma and the weather etc. Maybe being home since March has effected your mental health? Not saying don’t worry about corona but most people don’t even show symptoms or get very poorly at all. I know numerous who have tested positive purely from lack of taste that’s it. If he is diagnosed with asthma that’s all it will be he probably suffers every year when it gets cold. I do too. The last week or so mine has flared up .you could catch corona and show literally no symptoms at all. Corona is real yes and high risk people should take precautions but I think you are maybe looking a bit in to this?

 

[Phoenix Lazarus]

Remember Major Charles Ingram? I don't wish serious harm on him but it would be kind of ironic if he were to get it and start coughing uncontrollably.

 

[GetOffMyLawn]

The tattle advertising suggestions aren't missing a trick with this thread
View attachment 345434

Damnit... I really must work on my pelvic floor more

 

[Platypusfattypus]

Remember Major Charles Ingram? I don't wish serious harm on him but it would be kind of ironic if he were to get it and start coughing uncontrollably.

He'd have been buggered with all the people coughing. Wouldn't know what answer to choose.

 

[Platypusfattypus]

You can’t get a test on the NHS for a cough. They won’t test unless you’ve got a new and continuous cough and lost your sense of taste or smell and have a high temp.
So if a person has no other symptoms, they would be home without pay and unable to be tested unless they pay £100 odd themselves. How is that fair?
You might as well say everyone has to show a test to prove they don’t have Covid being as anyone could be asymptomatic.

It's not and, it's or. You only need one symptom to be eligible for a test.

 

[Gellymaccy]

Thanks for your replies!! Update - he’s off sick today!

 

[Gellymaccy]

Would you want to tell a bunch of people your medical conditions?! Is it ok because you don’t think asthma is that bad or something? What if he has chronic COPD? Should he tell people then so they can speculate and question what’s caused it and probably give unsolicited advice on how their uncle’s, sister’s, mother in law copes. He’s agency, these people aren’t his mates what business is it of theirs??

I have asthma myself calm down - I’d expect people to be concerned if I was coughing all over the place during a pandemic too

 

[Happy35]

Do you know how long he has been coughing for? If more than 10 days even if it is a COVID cough he won’t be infectious.

 

[mermaidexoxo]

The guy is off and has now taken a test pending results. Apparently His colleagues who he’s worked in the office with since March also reported it before I did as he hasn’t coughed really since he started. We’ve also had a colleague who sits behind him (1 metre) go home with a temperate and tight chest today. Again, I don’t need any further advice.

I think you should contact a moderator of Tattle to get this thread closed/deleted now as you don’t need and want any further advice.

I hope he tests negative and your worries/anxieties of the situation go away.

 

[Gellymaccy]

So I have been working from
Home since March but have to go into the office every so often for a week straight to do a certain job role.

ive been in today and yesterday and there is this guy in who is coughing constantly !! Im
Talking every few seconds ! He’s about 5 metres away from me and we are socially
Distanced!

we have to wear masks but not when sitting at our desks

anyway I spoke to my manager as worried as my husband is high risk and said has anyone asked him if he has had a test - apparently they spoke to him and it’s asthma that gets worse in the cold!

fair enough I guess but surely they should not be allowing him in until he can show a negative test!

he’s agency so won’t get paid if he is off sick
!!

I really don’t want to go in and today felt like I wasgoing to cry - silly I know but I got really worked up!!

my boss said she could move me but the office has no windows so no fresh air circulation and need to be by the printer for this role !!

im due in the rest of the week and a day next week!

wha would you guys do?’

 

[Tublet83]

Thanks for your replies!! Update - he’s off sick today!

I assume management has told him to get tested?!

 

[Babyyoda88]

Hmm I don’t know about needing an apology. I had a bad cough a couple weeks ago and my work colleagues were like . It wasn’t personal to me, they’re a great bunch, but some of them have family members currently with cancer, so I had a test to be on the safe side for everyone. It’s about looking out for one another right now. No one has to be personal about it right now and with winter people are going to have all sorts of coughs and colds not necessarily covid but to protect ourselves and those around us we could just get it checked out. No muss no fuss.

 

[GiggleBee]

Someone I know went to work with a cough, blamed it on asthma, carried on working and turns out it was covid I don't understand why people dont take a simple test.

 

[Gellymaccy]

Your work have done what they can, your over 5 meters away from him. They have offered you an alternative office, I am not really sure what else you expect them to do?

If he took a test he could easily be positive tomorrow. Someone else in the office could also be positive but asymptomatic.

Where did I say they’d offered me an alternative office - they offered me a different seat but that’s no possible as I need to be by the printer

I actually hope this guy has taken off work because of the speculation - he'll have an excellent case for disability discrimination!

Laughable - because his manager took him aside and asked him about a cough ?? Is anyone actually reading what happened

 

[Platypusfattypus]

The manager hasn’t asked the person to be tested (unless that’s why they were off sick) and seems content enough to accept their explanation of a chronic cough brought on by asthma. The only person who had the issue with it was the OP, and the colleague is well within their right not to disclose anything about their health to them.

It’s not unreasonable for the OP to be worried, but what else can they do aside from refuse to work in the office with the other person or keep their distance?

The manager has a responsibility to ensure all his staff are safe. If they have made the necessary enquiries then that's all they have to say to the op, they don't need to give any further information regarding the coughing person and that person should be supported to do their job. But they also have to ensure the op feels safe and protected too, and can do their job. Neither person should be penalised. And that's why I'm never going into management