Cough, should I keep him off school??

[AnxiousPixie]

Y2DS has a cough, else fine in himself. We have been doing LFTs twice a week so I know it's not COVID. Prepandemic I world have sent him to school cause it's not bad enough to be off but sending him in with a cough now just feels a bit wrong. I really don't want him to miss any more leaving unnecessarily though. What do you all think?

Yabu - keep him away with a cough, the rest of us just don't need it.
Yanbu - hes missed enough, if he's not too I'll to be at school send him.

I will have to miss work if I keep him home but that's not the most important thing.

[FiHefyd]

If he has symptoms he needs a pcr. lfts are for people with no symptoms.

[cliffdiver]

LFTs are for those without symptoms.

Your son has a symptom, and requires a PCR.

[Sirzy]

Keep him home until he has a negative Pcr

[HelloDulling]

You don’t know it’s not Covid. Take him for a PCR.

And you are right, no one else needs his germs, so keep him home.

[WoodenReindeer]

He needs a pcr before going back to school. Book ome as soon as you can

[Sunshinealligator]

Cough is a covid symptom, so PCR, regardless of his LFT results.

Call 119 though when his results come back, as the advice keeps changing- I was told about a week ago that I still needed to SI even if my PCR was negative as there was a small chance it was a false negative, and the rules are apparently different for those under 18 and 6 months.

Fingers crossed he gets a negative PCR result.

[DanglingMod]

Get him a pcr please.

[tealandteal]

Honestly the best response if he has any of the Covid symptoms is to arrange a PCR ASAP. The sooner you have the negative result the sooner you can carry on. If you book one now you may well have the results in time for school tomorrow.

[WoodenReindeer]

Presumably school will send him home for a test anyway?

Once its come back negative then send him if he's okay.

[CurzonDax]

If he has developed a cough, I'd imagine that the school will quickly call you to collect him anyway, and request he stay home until you get a pcr result.

[AllaboutMary]

PCR

[Ldmk2]

My son had a bad cough on Sunday so I took him for a pcr test. Kept him off school until I has results back. Even though I knew it was highly unlikely to be Covid as he tested positive in September.

[MrsColon]

Get a PCR but please send him in, school-age children do not need to self isolate, despite what some schools are saying.

[CristinaYangismySpiritAnimal]

FFS how do people still not know this? He has a cough therefore he requires a PCR. Lateral flow tests are designed for asymptomatic people and aren’t sufficient in this case. Do not send him to school until you have a negative PCR.

[whereiscaroline]

@MrsColon

Get a PCR but please send him in, school-age children do not need to self isolate, despite what some schools are saying.

If they have symptoms they do?!

[AnxiousPixie]

Thanks all, heard loud and clear. I couldn't live with myself if we were the ones that spread COVID in school.

[DramaLlllama]

DD tested negative SIX times on a LFT during the course of the week. 2 PCRs were positive.

Please keep him off and get him tested. Covid is rife in primary schools at the moment.

[BlueFlavour]

@CristinaYangismySpiritAnimal
Getting angry isn’t helpful. The rules are constantly changing. People aren’t always up to date.

[DanglingMod]

@MrsColon

Get a PCR but please send him in, school-age children do not need to self isolate, despite what some schools are saying.

Everyone needs to SI with symptoms, until negative result back.

[glitterelf]

Anyone displaying symptoms should get a PCR test and isolate regardless of what LFT are saying.

[glitterelf]

[quote BlueFlavour]@CristinaYangismySpiritAnimal
Getting angry isn’t helpful. The rules are constantly changing. People aren’t always up to date.[/quote]
But the rules of having symptoms and testing with a PCR and to isolate whilst waiting for the results haven't changed so I can totally understand why people get annoyed as it's the one rule that's been consistent throughout.

[Annabelll]

People not knowing the basic rules around testing (which haven’t changed) are part of the reason why covid is still running rampant. It is frustrating.

[AnxiousPixie]

Thanks for all your lovely comments. Have booked him a PCR. I have also contacted the school. There isn't actually a rule that says he has to isolate while waiting for results but I will keep him at home until we have the neg.

[rainbowstardrops]

I work in an infant school and most of my class are coughing all over me, it's awful. My school doesn't seem to have a concrete policy of insisting children have a negative PCR test to be in school which is infuriating! It's like Covid doesn't exist!Needless to say, people are starting to drop like flies with Covid

[BlueFlavour]

Er it hasn’t.