Help what should we do , Lie to get my daughter a test, or just keep her off

[DARRPG]

hi , never been on here before, Im an older dad (66) with a partner(57) who is an awesome step mum to my Girl aged 15. Her school is like everyone elses it seems ( full of Covid) a girl in her class is now off isolating as Positive, only her Bubble/ table of 4 are off , the girl who is off walks down the hill with my girl every day into the village for pick up, ok shes shouldnt have been walking with her, have you seen the kids coming out of a school , they are kids for gods sake and are not socially distancing. We both have health issues and are at risk, but I dont want to keep her off school , we are sat here waiting to catch it and well aware of the danger to us, I have tried to get a test for her , No- as she isnt showing symptoms, should I lie ? Would you keep her off ? Are we selfish ? My mums 88 and isolating and my ex has 2 little ones and is a front line worker , so if we become ill Im not sure who will look after her , fed up of this Sci-Fi movie !

[nameychange]

A test isn’t going to get her back to school any earlier. If she off because her friend has tested positive. Just wait it out, and see if she develops symptoms then get tested.

[covetingthepreciousthings]

Is your daughter now isolating? Having a test won't get her back to school any quicker.

But I would let school know that she has been in close contact with the positive case so they can decide if she needs to self isolate and stay off school for the 14 days.

[MRex]

Getting her a test won't make any difference as to whether she can transmit it to you at home. What do you think a test will achieve? Either you take extra precautions, or arrange for her to stay with her mum at this time. If you think she's a close contact and should be isolating then let the school know.

[DARRPG]

thanks we told the school there not interested if she walks with her out of school as shes not in the girls " bubble" , she cant stay with her mum, we are taking extra precautions , changing when she gets in , own towels, sleeping in spare room with a seperate shower , the difference to us would be good to know if she has caught it off this girl or not, which was prior to taking extra precautions

[DARRPG]

To answer one of the 3 replies, and thanks everyone for taking the time Shes not off , only the 4 on the girls table in the class are off.

[Aragog]

Has your DD been in come contact with the child who has tested positive? Within 2m for 15+ minutes?

If the answer is yes then she should be at home isolating.
Those are the rules.
It doesn't matter what school is saying.
As her parent you make the decision based on the official guidance.

If she has been in contact with someone who tested positive she cannot go to school. It isn't fair on the other children, staff and their families, who may also be vulnerable!

[MRex]

Even if she caught it, she might not become infectious for up to 14 days. Equally, she could catch it any other time and be unaware, so you should consider that she might be infectious any time, not just right now. It's good to take the extra precautions, but there isn't much more you can do. Lots of ventilation, sitting at a distance or preferably in separate rooms, good hand washing.

[ifonly4]

Even if she had a test now that comes back negative, there's still time for symptons to develop, so I'd only test if she has symptons.

In the ideal world she wouldn't have been walking with another pupil if there are family members at risk, but we're all allowed to exercise with one other person so technical she hasn't really done anything wrong.

All you can do is keep things clean, especially the bathroom which you all have to use (ie it's wiped around after she uses it) and try and keep some distance.

You're worried about who will look after her. You'd both be unlucky to get it and need hospital treatment. Just in case you were both ill at home, might be worth getting a few things in that are healthy and easy to prepare, ie your DD could manage it.

[TheGreatWave]

Whilst I believe children should be in school, and schools are only acting on the advice they are given, I think parents really need to start taking responsibility and adhering to official guidelines. They should not be swayed to send in children whilst someone in the household is waiting for test results or if they know they have actually been a close contact of someone who is positive. Cases will just increase otherwise.

[DARRPG]

Thanks for your reply

[Hesnotlocal]

If I've understood correctly, your DD has been in close contact with someone who has tested positive but has not been treated by the school as part of their 'close contacts' group because she was not in close contact with that person inside school. If that's right, you need to keep her off school and in isolation. I understand your concerns about your own health but I think getting a test now would not help. It can take a while for Covid to show up on a test so you run the risk of getting a negative result now when she may start to be infectious later in the week.

[PrivateD00r]

There is absolutely no point in getting her tested, it won't make any difference to this situation because a negative test shouldn't reassure you. The reason the isolation period is 14 days is because it can take that long to develop symptoms and test positive. You have been told your daughter does not need to self isolate because she wasn't a close contact. Walking up a hill outside is unlikely to be a big problem, though you don't indicate how long they were walking together for.

Your daughter being in school does of course put your elderly parent at risk. Just take extra care to social distance from your mum and wear a mask/observe excellent hand hygiene when visiting her. That is all you can do really.

[thaegumathteth]

You should have kept her home and had her isolating - please do so now. No test will tell you if she's GOING to develop it.