Local Covid-19 outbreak in nursery

[frozendaisy]

20 pupils, staff and family members have tested positive at a local nursery, does not directly affect us but nursery was taking all precautions advised/it could. Presently closed.

I can only assume this is what next school year is going to be like. Sigh.

[ohthegoats]

Yep.

[frozendaisy]

But how can this work? How can anyone plan anything like oh I don't know a job? Even if you and whole family are negative according to our Y6s school at present, if anyone in the house has a fever say, we all have to isolate and kids can't go back until we get, presuming they are, negative test results, how is this going to work with inevitable winter bug season.

[Stuckforthefourthtime]

Even if you and whole family are negative according to our Y6s school at present, if anyone in the house has a fever say, we all have to isolate and kids can't go back until we get, presuming they are, negative test results, how is this going to work with inevitable winter bug season.

This is why the test and trace programme is so important. If you can get tests turned around in

[ohthegoats]

What we need is some sort of instant test. Test kids and staff on the way in, everyone into pre-organised 'tutor bubbles' for an hour, test results back - bubbles with cases go home, everyone else carries on their day.

[TeddyIsaHe]

It’s crackers isn’t it? If we had a competent govt this would be solved by test and trace app that actually works.

Sadly we have Johnson and so we will all suffer his ineptitudes.

[Bol87]

Track & trace is fine though. Improving that won’t stop nurseries closing & people needing time isolate. Its the testing that needs to be better. There needs be a 12 hour turn around (which is possible as mine came back in 12 hours) so bubbles getting sent home can be back in school the next day if negative.

But yes. There are going to be outbreaks 😩 and winter is going to be shit unless there is a vaccine or treatment becomes so effective, we can just take a normal risk in catching it!

[ohthegoats]

Assumes that all parents will get a kid to a test centre that day too.

[ohthegoats]

Kid starts coughing and feeling rough at lunchtime, phone parent, parent takes an hour and a half to get there, waits for siblings, 3pm, doesn't have a car, somehow gets to test centre blah blah.

To be fair, this is exactly how the teachers designed covid before they let it loose from the lab.

[BabyLlamaZen]

Yeah, the winter is going to be a nightmare.

[aowjakdb]

What's the alternative OP? We stay in lockdown forever? It's obvious there will continue to be outbreaks until a vaccine (hopefully) is found.

[FrugiFan]

I dont think there is a viable alternative, what would you suggest?

[frozendaisy]

Yeah this is what I was inelegantly trying to say, we are near a drive-in test centre, if it's still there, but until you get the result (in our small family) x2 children and x2 adults will have to begin the 7/14 day isolation, and at the moment but it might change can't see it but it might, any Covid-19 symptom kick starts the isolation process. And I am presuming it will apply to school bubble, so even with quick tests it potentially could mean many missed days of work and school. How can we function like this?

As mentioned local nursery 20 have tested positive, so this means xnumber of staff off until they test negative so even if you and your family test negative your nursery might be closed so you might still have to cover childcare etc.

Need pee-on-a-stick tests!

We really want our children back at school but it might become less disruptive to have smaller, safer(?), bubbles, one week in, one week online rather than in-out-test-in-out again-test.

Because at the moment it's the school that send you home, our Y6 was late last week and the idiot! (I don't mean idiot idiot) tells school he was late "because his dad had a fever" which WAS A LIE...think he did it to see what would happen, school obviously called to check. And kids aren't dumb they will figure out they can just say "I've lost my sense of smell" and we will all have to get tested because how can you test for that.

[ineedaholidaynow]

@frozendaisy have they all tested positive or are they just self isolating?

[frozendaisy]

20 tested positive

[Keepdistance]

Would be interesting to see how many parents caught it from nursery age kids..
20 is a big outbreak as i thought they only test the child?

[frozendaisy]

Nursery did best to wash hands, clean surfaces, clearly personal details but presume other staff have to now self-isolate with their households until tested. And I understand this is how it has to be but even if say half staff can return after a deep clean and half children back say, that could still mean now negative parents with no childcare. Or families having to organise tests and await results before they have childcare again.

Clearly everyone being safe is the most important thing, but unexpected isolation/tests, as will become more prevalent as the year progresses assuming no vaccine/anti-viral prescription available, would it be prudent to keep bubbles smaller with online schooling to reduce frequency of this happening? Nursery only been open three weeks.

[Lockdownseperation]

I thought under 5 year olds were not being tested?

[frozendaisy]

It was 20 staff, pupils and parents, no details yet as to where it originated from. And that we may never know. But one can only assume transmission happened to some extent within the nursery setting.

[TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince]

This is scary.

schoolsweek.co.uk/suspected-covid-19-outbreaks-in-schools-almost-doubles/

[Flagsfiend]

Yep it's going to be chaos unless they can get a much quicker test. I did read about this www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/health-53131237 which sounds promising, if it could be under an hour result from spitting in a container then at least it would get negative cases back to normal life quickly. Obviously positive results are going to be disruptive whatever, but the faster the result is obtained would then hopefully mean quicker isolation and less spread.

[frozendaisy]

Just thinking out loud really that come September onwards this might become a logistical nightmare for all education settings and families, work places etc. We all know that all kids get a winter bug/fever. And it clearly could be Covid-19 from now onwards, but unless working parent who doesn't have to look after child feels ill they go to work. But that can't happen now as things stand as the school's want, well our school are insisting, on family being tested and results before child can go back. I can't see a way around it, not that I want to, but this is going to cause complications with everything.

[Keepdistance]

I do think once a kid is positive especially a nursery one they need to test the rest of the bubble.
Also with nursery kids because parents go in i guess there is more possibilities of other parents catching even if their own dc didnt give it to them via the surfaces parents touch going into nursery.


Of course a child being in nappies doesnt help... As you could still have it in poop for weeks after being ill.

I guess this may fall under other in the gov stats rather than schools...
Other having increased a lot..

If this were a school class of 30 that could be 15 kids infected (if you assume 50%). So maybe 37 infected including parents and siblings.

But if nursery bubbles are only 8 theyve managed to spread to 2.5 times the bubble size. So a class of 30 could be 75.?

In our school all 60 reception kids share about 4 toilets. I dont see how they can clean after 30 reception kids in between the other 30.

Unfortunately everyone is in it together even if some people are taking loads of 'risks'

[Disillusioned11]

TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince

But it’s not spread by children .... it’s says so on the bbc! 🙄

I wonder how many of the teaching and child care profession should be willing to die in order to provide child care?

[frozendaisy]

We have school age not nursery but the rules still apply. I am not sure, don't think we have been told, how many steps-away from a person (teacher, child, caretaker, parent) your child is before testing rule applies. Guess that will come, but the bigger the bubbles increases the potential frequency for isolation days.

So what do you do if employer says "no more days off" and school say "you can't come back without a negative test". What exactly can you do at that point?

[brightbluegentian]

Yup there will be a lot of school closures. DS managed one day back in nursery before they shut and we had to self isolate for 14 days... it finished today thank fuck!

Also testing is getting easier ( and for under 5s). Went online for a test for DS at 7pm. Offered test slot at 7.30 locally. Home by 8and results within 36 hours. It’s not ideal but improving (we have so far had to self isolate 3 times for DS random temperatures - now at least we can get him tested and back to nursery.