Just back to school. Now home. Not tests available

[Whatdowehaveherethen]

My boys went back to school last week. DS1 developed a persistent cough Friday evening. DS2 picked it up on Saturday.

There are no home tests available. I've looked every hour from 7am through to 2am since.

They can't go to school unless a negative result is given. I very much doubt I can get tests through the post. Many people on my area have the same issue.

I know I'm being unreasonable. I know!

Are people ordering tests 'just in case'?

I'm working from home and it's been horrendous. My boys were so happy to be back at school. Now I have to keep them off for a week. I'm pretty sure last Autumn term they developed the same cold/cough symptoms once they were back with their viral loaded friends. It was normal then.

I know keeping them off school is for the greater good but I have no idea how this is going to work in the long term. They constantly pick up viral infections. That's their job!

Actually, I'm not sorry, I'm just completely fucked off. Why haven't the gov made more tests available knowing our kids would be going back to school? What about the teachers?

The school have told me to 'continue to use' the online learning. This involves going out and finding leaves of difference colours etc. Fuck that.

I know the school are using a generalised online learning system but it's not practical at all.

I'm not going to complain by the way. I couldn't respect my boys teachers anymore. They're wonderful.

I'm just ranting.

Yet again there doesn't seem to be any planning in tackling outbreaks in schools

A pupil at DS school has covid, so now whole year group at home for 2 weeks - they were back 1 day.

What happens if when they go back another pupil gets it and so on ??? It will yet again be weeks and weeks off school. And our school had a very poor offer for homeschooling

And I might add that the fact that the manufacturer of the Oxford vaccine has already started manufacture of 35 million doses. They would not do that unless they were fully confident it would be approved. So now we are going through all this while phase 4 trials are completed. But the doses have already been manufactured. They are not going to bin them all now under any circumstances. So what is the phase 4 trial for? To prove something they already know. So just get on and approve the vaccine and get it out in the whole population asap. We can't be going through this until next Spring.

I tried to book a test last Friday, early in the morning. Only drive through I was offered was fifty miles away, so one hundred mile round trip. This wasn't possible so I requested postal test instead. That was delivered, via Amazon, at 1.30pm.on Saturday. I live in London but the test was sent from Glasgow!!!! Why?

As it was, the test arrived after the last collection of the day (1pm on Saturday) and you can't send it on Sundays so I had to wait until Monday to do the test and send it back. The return address on the box was Glasgow, so I've had to wait for a test to be sent from Glasgow to London and now need to wait for it to be sent from London back to Glasgow, and then wait for the results. My employer is already complaining but what can I do? This is the reality for people, particularly with the postal tests. It isn't a 24 hour turn around and people are going to miss school and work unnecessarily because of this.

Why on earth aren't tests kept locally, or even centrally? Why on earth is the south of England having to wait for tests to go backwards and forwards to Scotland?

@meditrina - Indeed. Again (like the exam results) this mess was completely predictable.... Mamy people here said this was going to be the problem with the "open back schools no matter what" approach. Much worst than a blended and careful approach from the begining.

Oh well. guess what people has predicted when we leave EU without a deal in the next month.... But we are pessimist

@Clavinova that is basically what the NHS helpline for England told me as well that if they have cold symptoms then they dont need a test.

DS has that but also has a cough (like he does every single time he has a cold) but cannot get a test in SE England

School are happy to put down that he has a cold and I am 99.99% certain he does

Its just the 0.001% chance that he might

Its just so difficult to know what to do

especially without an effective track and trace and test system.

It is a big mess. Many children have covid like symptoms on and off for months and months every winter and don't have covid 19.

We need to have a simpler message - eg if most people with CV19 have a high temperature and a cough then limit it to that - if your child has a high temp (set out the level) plus a continuous dry cough (but not the usual wet coughing up mucus type of cough) then they get a test and stay off school until negative test result.

If schools start sending home every child with a cold this is not going to work.

@Hereinthesticks

And I might add that the fact that the manufacturer of the Oxford vaccine has already started manufacture of 35 million doses. They would not do that unless they were fully confident it would be approved. So now we are going through all this while phase 4 trials are completed. But the doses have already been manufactured. They are not going to bin them all now under any circumstances. So what is the phase 4 trial for? To prove something they already know. So just get on and approve the vaccine and get it out in the whole population asap. We can't be going through this until next Spring.

Because they don't yet know that the vaccine works, nor what dose they need to administer. You can't just vaccinate a population with a vaccine you don't know will work because people will go back to normal life and potentially be at risk of catching and spreading the virus.

You have to know that the vaccine works and provides immunity before you can administer it and allow people to lift restrictions.

@Xenia you are right. But the government refused to implement one clear policy for England and instead delegated all the responsibility to local authorities and schools. So they are all taking a different line, leading to lots of pupils missing essential school due to a simple cold or asthma or tonsilitis.
That wouldn't matter so much if people could get a quick and reliable test that demonstrated whether they had coronavirus or not. But that is not happening, even though most people could see that this situation was inevitable in September.

@faraway20 I just called 119. It’s a recorded message saying all tests have been allocated already today.
So I can’t get a postal test or walk in my area. I have 3 test centres within 169 miles and all 3 are fully booked for the next 5 days.
So am I supposed to keep my children off school for 2 weeks for one having a slightly raised temperature?

I honestly wouldn’t blame anyone at this point for not following this shitty process.

If they didn't know the vaccine worked, they wouldn't be manufacturing 35 million doses right now.

Had no idea you could just turn up at a testing centre - according to google, the two near me say appointment only.

Same here, there are a few 49+ miles away that say no referral needed, these all seem to be walk through centrea. However all the ones closest to me are drive through centres and say appointment only, so surely I can't just turn up?

I will if it's allowed but I really dont want to drag the also coughing alsmost 9 month old with me if I'm just going to be turned away.

This is insane. What happens if you need to go miles to a walk in or drive 80 miles and need the loo?

If I had to drive almost a 100 miles for the kids to be tested I cant see them coping well with the car non stop for hours.

Insane

@Hereinthesticks

And I might add that the fact that the manufacturer of the Oxford vaccine has already started manufacture of 35 million doses. They would not do that unless they were fully confident it would be approved. So now we are going through all this while phase 4 trials are completed. But the doses have already been manufactured. They are not going to bin them all now under any circumstances. So what is the phase 4 trial for? To prove something they already know. So just get on and approve the vaccine and get it out in the whole population asap. We can't be going through this until next Spring.

I don't agree, the ministers might be confident, the scientist need funding, the labs make money by making the vaccine, IF it works its going to be a veritable payday. If it doesn't the manufacturers will throw away something that the govt has paid for. This is speculative spending.

I have expertise in clinical trials and ethics committees and fully understand why a phase 4 trial and postmarketing vigilance is required, but it is still very frustrating. Especially without proper testing and people having to miss school and work unnecessarily.

For those trying to preserve a career during this there may be some merit in paying for a test if that means you don't lose 2 weeks of wages and cannot pay the rent. It is not just 2 weeks it could be a 15 times ( x 2 weeks) all winter in some families. We have 5 children - when they were young there would never be a day in the winter when one did not have some kind of cold or germ and yes they almost always went into school with a load of tissues.

Just called 119 again to see if they can help me book a drive through appointment and when you press the number to talk to an agent you get a recorded message saying they are extremely busy, call back later and then it hangs up on you.

But the government refused to implement one clear policy for England and instead delegated all the responsibility to local authorities and schools. So they are all taking a different line, leading to lots of pupils missing essential school due to a simple cold or asthma or tonsilitis.
That wouldn't matter so much if people could get a quick and reliable test that demonstrated whether they had coronavirus or not. But that is not happening, even though most people could see that this situation was inevitable in September.

Schools are following the directions from the government. It's the government who decide when students need to get sent home or stay off.

If someone has:
A new cough as defined by the NHS
A high temperature
A change in smell or taste

They have to be off and be tested.

That's not schools or local authorities. That's from the government.

School staff have no way of saying whether a cough is for a cold or not, but students shouldn't be sent home for the sniffles or cold symptoms unless they have a new cough.

And I only mention it here because the government is currently only planning to vaccinate the most vulnerable or front-line NHS staff at best, so the rest of us will still be in this mess of missing school and work and not getting a quick reliable test for months and months, while still being expected to get out there and spent like good consumers. There does need to be pressure to make the government see that everyone needs vaccinating.

@xenia How does one pay to get a test?

@LolaSmiles That should be clear and simple for a school to follow. But I think there is also something about policy being at the discretion of the head teacher.

Anyone who lives in the SE London area - Morden and Kingston were open when I checked. Have a Morden appointment

My (home educated) dd has woken up with a fever. She’s well, but we’ve obviously all got to isolate until she’s tested. There are no available home testing kits available, and the nearest drive through is 11 miles away in Oldham, but when I clicked on it there were no available tests for the rest of the week.

Luckily I’ve got her a slot through work (hospital) tomorrow.

The whole t&t system is a fucking shit shower, but that’s what happens when you give contracts to your mates and not to the people who are actually trained in this stuff, just because you don’t believe in the State!

Hereinthesticks
They'd be a brave headteacher to go against the NHS guidelines unless they have a really good reason (eg very high proportion of children with complex medical needs).

The DfE have even given schools the same line to follow. I haven't got time for the DfE at the moment, but the 3 main symptoms are quite clear

Well the websites now showing me this message again...