COVID-19 positive -- safe to cohabitate?
November 9, 2020 8:31 AM Subscribe
If two people in a relationship are both COVID-19 positive is it safe for them to cohabitate or is it better for each to isolate?
Dear friend's live-in partner developed cold-like symptoms on Wednesday and found out on Friday there was exposure to COVID-19. Partner is still waiting on test results, so far symptoms mild. My friend isolated from partner in a different apartment when partner developed symptoms. Friend started developing symptoms yesterday. Friend is at high risk having been hospitalized with pneumonia previously. I am worried friend is alone and will not be capable of getting to hospital if needed. Is it safe for them to cohabitate if they are both positive?
Dear friend's live-in partner developed cold-like symptoms on Wednesday and found out on Friday there was exposure to COVID-19. Partner is still waiting on test results, so far symptoms mild. My friend isolated from partner in a different apartment when partner developed symptoms. Friend started developing symptoms yesterday. Friend is at high risk having been hospitalized with pneumonia previously. I am worried friend is alone and will not be capable of getting to hospital if needed. Is it safe for them to cohabitate if they are both positive?
I would first have the friend get tested too and if both friend and partner are positive - then sure, cohabitate.
posted by peacheater at 10:27 AM on November 9, 2020
posted by peacheater at 10:27 AM on November 9, 2020
I thought there were different strains of the virus out there?
posted by aniola at 10:56 AM on November 9, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by aniola at 10:56 AM on November 9, 2020 [2 favorites]
Companionship is vital to one's well-being, though, too.
posted by aniola at 10:59 AM on November 9, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by aniola at 10:59 AM on November 9, 2020 [3 favorites]
(but honestly, if friend has lost their sense of smell, that's good enough for me)
posted by Dashy at 11:34 AM on November 9, 2020
posted by Dashy at 11:34 AM on November 9, 2020
Don't do it! I'm very disappointed to see these answers so far.
Why? The more coronavirus you're exposed to, the sicker you're likely to get. Dose matters, and fighting off a mild exposure to Covid doesn't mean your friend will be able to then immediately fight off a higher dose of viral particles (we really just don't know enough about Covid and immunity, but evidence does not look great.) They could make one another sicker (yes, even if they've already transmitted the exact same virus, there's potential risk of reinfection). An imperfect metaphor is that each of your friends (if covid-positive) are under siege by an army. Being together means that each of them is fighting off not one army, but two. Would you prefer those odds?
Sure, companionship is vital to one's well-being on a medium-or-long-term scale. On a short-term scale in this circumstance, it's dangerous (also, sick people are not exceptional caregivers, as a rule). Your friends are doing the right thing and should continue to do it, so they can each return to their partner healthy, especially if--god forbid--one of them gets hit hard and the other needs to do more caregiving.
There are other ways to check in on your friend: text-based routine check-ins; some sort of "dead man's switch" where they need to text you (or someone) every four hours and if they don't then you call them or send help; etc.
posted by c'mon sea legs at 11:46 AM on November 9, 2020 [20 favorites]
Why? The more coronavirus you're exposed to, the sicker you're likely to get. Dose matters, and fighting off a mild exposure to Covid doesn't mean your friend will be able to then immediately fight off a higher dose of viral particles (we really just don't know enough about Covid and immunity, but evidence does not look great.) They could make one another sicker (yes, even if they've already transmitted the exact same virus, there's potential risk of reinfection). An imperfect metaphor is that each of your friends (if covid-positive) are under siege by an army. Being together means that each of them is fighting off not one army, but two. Would you prefer those odds?
Sure, companionship is vital to one's well-being on a medium-or-long-term scale. On a short-term scale in this circumstance, it's dangerous (also, sick people are not exceptional caregivers, as a rule). Your friends are doing the right thing and should continue to do it, so they can each return to their partner healthy, especially if--god forbid--one of them gets hit hard and the other needs to do more caregiving.
There are other ways to check in on your friend: text-based routine check-ins; some sort of "dead man's switch" where they need to text you (or someone) every four hours and if they don't then you call them or send help; etc.
posted by c'mon sea legs at 11:46 AM on November 9, 2020 [20 favorites]
I'm not seeing any reliable sources out there on whether it's more dangerous to isolate with someone else who's tested positive... but at the very least, your friend should stay put where they are until they (and their partner) have a confirmed positive test. (A PCR test, not the instant test.) Right now, they could just have something else. Spread within households is not 100% and staying separate is a good idea until they're sure they know what's going on.
Does your friend have a pulse oximeter? If not, can you get them one? One of the reasons why people are having trouble getting to the hospital fast enough is silent hypoxia - people with COVID are, for whatever reason, not noticing that they're badly hypoxic until they crash. If your friend can commit to checking their O2 sats regularly, it could be a valuable early warning sign that can tell them when it's time to head to the hospital. They are apparently more available now to buy than they were earlier in the pandemic.
posted by pie ninja at 12:00 PM on November 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
Does your friend have a pulse oximeter? If not, can you get them one? One of the reasons why people are having trouble getting to the hospital fast enough is silent hypoxia - people with COVID are, for whatever reason, not noticing that they're badly hypoxic until they crash. If your friend can commit to checking their O2 sats regularly, it could be a valuable early warning sign that can tell them when it's time to head to the hospital. They are apparently more available now to buy than they were earlier in the pandemic.
posted by pie ninja at 12:00 PM on November 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
I was in this situation and heard specifically from multiple sources within the Washington state department of health that it was totally fine to isolate with my partner who tested positive if I also tested positive. Nothing about making each other sicker. Yes, it is true that higher viral loads can make initial risk of infection higher, but once your body is already mounting an immune response to a virus I believe the viral loads matter very little. I could be wrong of course. But I would be shocked if I was given incorrect info by all 3 of the medical professionals I talked to.
posted by leafmealone at 5:15 PM on November 9, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by leafmealone at 5:15 PM on November 9, 2020 [2 favorites]
Just to note: what leafmealone has mentioned is not standard practice in other places that actually have the virus under control, and contravenes government advice/mandates in such countries.
Anecdotally, a friend working in US-based covid-19 research surveying community transmission/spread has noted that there is currently a lot of conflicting (and plain wrong) information given by medical professionals regarding isolation, infectiousness and best practices for what people should do if they test positive.
Metafilter may not be the best place for you to ask this question. Is your friend able to stay near someone else that can monitor your friend?
posted by aielen at 6:22 PM on November 9, 2020 [2 favorites]
Anecdotally, a friend working in US-based covid-19 research surveying community transmission/spread has noted that there is currently a lot of conflicting (and plain wrong) information given by medical professionals regarding isolation, infectiousness and best practices for what people should do if they test positive.
Metafilter may not be the best place for you to ask this question. Is your friend able to stay near someone else that can monitor your friend?
posted by aielen at 6:22 PM on November 9, 2020 [2 favorites]
Yes, Metafilter may not be the best place. Your friend should definitely check in with one of those people licensed to provide medical advice.
However, I'll give it one more go from my unlicensed but somewhat informed understanding:
If friend is now symptomatic, the viral exposure that initiated disease occurred ~5 days ago, and virus has been rapidly replicating in friend since then. Yes, initial dose appears to matter. But at this point, no second dose could come close to the amount of virus already in friend. The early innate immune response has also kicked in, and adaptive immunity (IgM, then IgG) has started; both of these curtail viral load. The idea that friend will just keep on getting re-infected and adding up infections is ... not consistent with known basics.
If you need to hear it from someone else, here's Prof Wendy Barclay, Action Medical Research Chair Virology, and Head of Department of Infectious Disease, Imperial College London: ...
posted by Dashy at 7:57 AM on November 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
However, I'll give it one more go from my unlicensed but somewhat informed understanding:
If friend is now symptomatic, the viral exposure that initiated disease occurred ~5 days ago, and virus has been rapidly replicating in friend since then. Yes, initial dose appears to matter. But at this point, no second dose could come close to the amount of virus already in friend. The early innate immune response has also kicked in, and adaptive immunity (IgM, then IgG) has started; both of these curtail viral load. The idea that friend will just keep on getting re-infected and adding up infections is ... not consistent with known basics.
If you need to hear it from someone else, here's Prof Wendy Barclay, Action Medical Research Chair Virology, and Head of Department of Infectious Disease, Imperial College London: ...
there is no evidence for any suggestion that if everyone in a family is already sick they can they reinfect each other with more and more virus. In fact for other viruses once you are infected it’s quite hard to get infected with the same virus on top
posted by Dashy at 7:57 AM on November 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
No one knows the definitive answer to this question. This question has not been sufficiently researched to even provide a clear educated guess.
I have seen no public health guidance suggesting you avoid other COVID + people while you yourself are COVID +. Further, the dose/response hypothesis that people tend to get more severe infections when exposed to a higher viral load is a hypothesis about your initial exposure, not about ongoing exposure after you have tested positive.
If it was me, I would definitely shelter with the other person. Being alone is risky when you have a condition that causes respiratory compromise.
posted by latkes at 11:21 AM on November 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
I have seen no public health guidance suggesting you avoid other COVID + people while you yourself are COVID +. Further, the dose/response hypothesis that people tend to get more severe infections when exposed to a higher viral load is a hypothesis about your initial exposure, not about ongoing exposure after you have tested positive.
If it was me, I would definitely shelter with the other person. Being alone is risky when you have a condition that causes respiratory compromise.
posted by latkes at 11:21 AM on November 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Dashy at 10:20 AM on November 9, 2020 [1 favorite]