Head is sending kids home to have a PCR for sitting near a confirmed case

[Monkeybumbum7]

This isn’t government policy and I’m fuming.

Got to the school door today to be sent home again to do a PCR because my child sits near someone who has tested positive. The head said ‘this isn’t government policy but we are trying to contain an outbreak’.

Local public heath teams can advise this.

What’s worse? Sending close contacts home or having a mass of cases that shuts a year group or school? That’s what happened here.

I think most schools are doing this? Ours are. Seems very sensible. If it spreads silently through kids and all the staff end up with it the school will be closed for 2 weeks.

Government policy is all close contacts should have a PCR. This has been the policy since they decided close contacts don’t need to isolate for 10 days.

You should be grateful they're trying to contain an outbreak, which would be far more disruptive to you if it takes hold.

Seems fair enough to me?

Annoying and inconvenient, but warranted.

Our whole school is closed currently to let everyone get a PCR before returning. This is what the public health teams are advising.

Seems quite sensible to be honest; it wasn’t so long ago that the whole class would have to isolate for that

This happened at my son's nursery. Very sensible as it picked up 3 asymptomatic cases.

Sensible.

Completely sensible

Sensible and should still be Gov policy.

Sensible. Wish DS's school would do the same.

It will be PHE advice. This varies locally

Sensible response, don’t see the issue.

I thought you couldn't get a PCR without symptoms?

Given that a couple of cases turned into three quarters of the class at my son's school, very sensible.

We are getting close contact texts but in that case they closed the class on the Thursday after 5 cases and asked them all to get tests over the weekend. Which revealed 3/4 class.

Yep, if the contact was on Friday, the timing for a pcr is good. The head is being entirely sensible. Containing an outbreak at this point could save the school from closing.

@TheLovelinessOfDemons

I thought you couldn't get a PCR without symptoms?

You can as a contact.

If you use the Zoe app their definition of “symptoms” is much broader so they’ll send you for one without the classic three.

@TheLovelinessOfDemons

I thought you couldn't get a PCR without symptoms?

Many are asymptomatic. Or vague non Covid specific symptoms.

A friend is a Gp and watched her whole family get it one by one; one child had no symptoms and one had a brief mild headache and said he felt a bit hot. Another was quite snotty. She was on infection lookout though as she was the first case.

Only her and her husband had a mild brief chest tightness.

Most schools are doing this now, what’s your problem?

Covid is highly contagious, if your chikd sat near someone with it then they’ve definitely breathed in covid. The only question is whether your chikd’s immune system prevented infection or if they are currently infected (and infectious). A PCR is the best way of finding that out and you should be grateful that you’re being given one, free.

Also, PHE in our case told the school it was currently on average 6 days from contact to testing positive/ symptoms. So close contacts (children) are being urged to do daily lft and a second pcr when convenient.

But it's been a really big outbreak.

Great. You have a very sensible head.

Ours do too. Its frustrating when I have work but I would rather do that than spread it to loads of others if it turned out my child had it.

Why are you fuming? The head is doing the right thing.
You’d be bitching even more if all the teachers got infected and had to stay off for weeks.

I’m a teacher and wish ours would do this. Especially coming up to Christmas! I will be seeing relatives I’ve not seen in over two years all being well, I had to isolate last year because of a positive case in my class on the last day of term.