Do I send my son with a cough 😬

[Dickorydockwhatthe]

He stayed home Friday bunged up full of cold which has developed into a cough as the mucus has loosened. No temperature or loss of taste, he feels fine just has the annoy tickly cough you get after a cold especially first thing in the morning. But it always sounds worse first thing but he will probably perk up later!!

*sent for testing, not sent to school!

Latest data from the Zoe app which contradicts the government's advice, so please do be vigilant:

The top five symptoms in school aged children who test positive for COVID are; fatigue (55%) headache (53%), fever (49%), sore throat (38%) and loss of appetite (35%). This was different compared to the App’s data on adults; fatigue (87%), headache (72%), loss of smell (60%), persistent cough (54%) and sore throat (49%). In addition to this, research from the app has also found that one in six (15%) children who test positive for COVID also present with an unusual skin rash.

I should point out that neither child had a temp, just a cold (LOTS of sneezing, bunged up etc) then a slight cough at the end.

I am at anyone sending a child who has a cough, temp or loss of taste/smell.

You're doing the wrong thing and I resent it.

There's nothing I can do, but you are contributing to the risk of schools closing.

@Dickorydockwhatthe this is us right now. My DD5 always gets a cough whenever she gets a cold. Cold has gone but due to baby asthma the cough lingers on. I am not sending her purely as PP said as they will just send her home. There is no temperature and she is absolutely fine otherwise.
It's your call but be on point for a send-home.

@RepeatSwan

I am at anyone sending a child who has a cough, temp or loss of taste/smell.

You're doing the wrong thing and I resent it.

There's nothing I can do, but you are contributing to the risk of schools closing.

So by that token are you suggesting that any kid that gets a cold needs to stay off school?

Maybe the Govt need to say that then.. but they haven't.

If a child presents with a cold - lots of sneezing, runny nose, bunged up AND then a couple of days later has the back end of the cold with a bit of a cough (maybe coughs a few times in the day, nothing major) - should THAT be reason to get them tested? I think that's the very thing the testing centres DON'T want to happen!

The testing centre was not happy at all with the kids school today - said we shouldn't be testing a child with classic cold symptoms and no temp.

It's crazy that there is no consistency.

On one hand if you keep your child off for every cold they will miss a lot of their education over winter. My kids last year were snotty from November until February with cold after cold. But on the other hand nobody wants to spread Covid. I've done what the professionals have told me to do.

My child's school says for a runny nose and/or sore throat to send them in, check for other symptoms of Covid and if none they are to go in. He hasn't had anything yet *touch wood if he gets a runny nose with nothing else he will be going in and won't be getting a test. Colds will be going around especially now as children haven't seen each other like this since March and unless necessary I won't be putting him through the Covid test

@Wargghhhh

I would just follow the NHS advice. So test? - cough yes, snot no.

'If a child presents with a cold - lots of sneezing, runny nose, bunged up AND then a couple of days later has the back end of the cold with a bit of a cough (maybe coughs a few times in the day, nothing major) - should THAT be reason to get them tested?'

Should it be a reason? I don't know.
Is it a reason? Yes.
The guidance is pretty clear.

@MrsSchrute

'If a child presents with a cold - lots of sneezing, runny nose, bunged up AND then a couple of days later has the back end of the cold with a bit of a cough (maybe coughs a few times in the day, nothing major) - should THAT be reason to get them tested?'

Should it be a reason? I don't know.
Is it a reason? Yes.
The guidance is pretty clear.

The testing centre told us otherwise...

The days of goingo school sick are done... you cant do this any more. Bestthing is to let him recover.

Please don't send your children in with a cough ( check the nns guidelines as to what a continuous cough is and please note than the nhs list doesn't distinguish between the type (dry or not) of cough.

You may think you know it isn't Covid but without a test you don't know.

Make a choice - stay off for 10 days from start of symptoms or test and return if negative. Don't lie about test results ], or about having a test, please.

Your school likely has vulnerable staff, children or family members in it. Please bear this in mind when sending children in who are going to be coughing over equipment and desks, and pass droplets through the air.

I teach 270 children a week, in primary so no SDing, etc and I am clinically vulnerable. I'm not alone. We all need to work together to keep everyone from becoming ill.

Had similar here. Son off school Thursday and Friday with a typical sore throat/head cold. On Friday, he developed a temperature, and on Saturday a cough and I started with it on Saturday too. We got tested on Saturday evening - really not a big deal, I am surprised at people worried about 'putting their child through' such a test, or describing it as 'traumatic'... .
So now he is all better and I am getting there, but we have to isolate (as does DH who is self-employed and losing money and has had no symptoms) until we get the test result. It's a pain in the arse really, as I am 99% sure it's a common cold, but I would rather be safe than sorry. I just wish the testing system was better organised so we could get back on with life quickly.

I think that kids that have a cold should stay off school, yes, if theyve been streaming and bunged up all weekend now have a cough, damn right they should stay off till they feel better or have been tested.

I agree that the days of sending sick kids in are over... hope our school will stop giving out attendance certificates now

Its the biggest cultural shift we need. Stop going in to work when ill and stop sending ill kids to school. It will overall save working hours and money anyway. It would be a much more useful way of halting the pandemic than restricting people who are perfectly well

"What if my child has a minor cough?
Coughs can indeed be mild and children often get them. The NHS says it's fine to send your child to schooll_ with a minor cough.

But it's a new and continuous cough that you need to look out for, which could be a symptom of coronavirus.

If your young one is coughing a lot for more than an hour or has three or more coughing episodes in 24 hours, then it may be best to keep them off school and request a test.
And if my child has a cold?
The NHS advises that if a child has mild cold-like symptoms they should continue to go to school.
Common cold symptoms such as sore throats, blocked or runny noses are currently not recognised symptoms of coronavirus.
If your child is feeling unwell with different symptoms than those of coronavirus, you should treat those as you normally would. More advice can be found on this NHS websitee_.

The Department for Education says: "As in any year, as schools go back, children may pick up common colds or feel unwell with a sore throat, stomach upset or a headache.
"These children may need to stay off school and parents/carers should call their GP or dial 111 to seek medical advice if they are concerned about their child’s health.""

That's from here:

www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/uk-news/should-send-child-school-cold-18918506

@seven201 what worries me is that sore throats, headaches and stomach upsets are actually really common symptom of Covid in children and are recognised by The Who, Zoe Research and the rest of the world...

Surely, SURELY its better that people are over cautious with respiratory illnesses in the middle of a global corona pandemic than risk the whole fucking bubble have to stay off when they get it

Totally agree @Branleuse!! Some people seem to be missing the irony about what they actually saying.

Surely, SURELY its better that people are over cautious with respiratory illnesses in the middle of a global corona pandemic than risk the whole fucking bubble have to stay off when they get it

This. He's got a cough. Sure, if it's a tickly throat then he probably doesn't need testing, but his tickly throat is GUARANTEED to end up being a proper cough for another kid in the class, or the teacher, and you're risking the education of others. Sure you didn't think it is.covid, but so did my sister, who laughed at needing a test for her runny nose and cough until her husband got really sick straight after and tested positive.

I particularly dislike people who say 'well they all pick them up.at school anyway', when if you just didn't send them in full of cold, they'd only catch half the number they do.

The other worry is we are losing any control, because if we can't get tests, we don't know where covid is spreading.

We can't avoid a second lockdown if they don't get a grip

I'd be OVERJOYED to get a test for my coughing son. I can't get one. It is all I've done today.

I think Boris is trying Trump's theory of, if we don't test then the number of cases are low... He's successfully got the public blaming each other for taking up 'unneccesary' tests as well.

It's scary really.