School not telling teachers Covid status

[Lovebeingmama]

Hi,
I received a message approx a week ago from the school saying that a particular teacher was self isolating due to being in close contact with someone who had tested positive for Covid. There was no mention of this teacher getting tested for Covid and since we were informed no confirmation of a positive or negative result.
We have only been told that the teacher is feeling well still and has no symptoms, that is it. As you can be asymptomatic, I know this doesn’t automatically mean that the teacher is negative.
My son has had direct contact with this teacher and I work with vulnerable people, so it’s important for me to know. The school won’t divulge the covid status (or even if there has been a test) as they say it is personal information.
I don’t care about the individual status of the teacher, just about our exposure to risk. The school decided to tell us about the individual teacher involved.
I feel this is unfair - aibu?

Yes.
Your son only needs to self isolate if the teacher gets symptoms and a positive test, and if he’s considered a close enough contact.

Policy is normally that a teacher with symptoms will isolate and only return after a negative result. I would be very surprised if parents were informed just because an individual had symptoms.

Covid is absolutely rife in secondary schools, so chances are that your son has been, or will be, exposed. I say this as a teacher. There have been three positive cases in the last week in my school. Who knows how many asymptomatic students there are.

It's a national scandal. Who knows why it is not being reported in the mainstream media.

The rules state if you are in close contact with someone who has tested positive you need to SI for 14 days. You do NOT need to get a test unless you show symptoms yourself. So if you have it without symptoms you are SI anyway. Even if the teacher did have a test and it was negative, that doesn’t mean they still won’t ‘get it’ within the next 14 days. So the test is a bit of a waste of time.
I guess they are right that it’s personal information - but I would take that as the teacher hasn’t yet tested positive. Because if they had then they would have to tell you.
Sounds like they are being cryptic for no reason though.

If you’re self isolating due to close contact then you still have to self isolate even if you have a negative test. So without symptoms there is no point having a test.

The school has behaved entirely appropriately.

I know 8 people who have had to self isolate after close contact of a positive case.
They all went for a test (😡) and 3 of them were positive.

The teacher is identified as a contact so self isolates. If they develop symptoms or test positive, all contacts of them will then be traced and told to isolate. Until that point, you have to deem your child as unexposed to CV19.

Think I’ll have to take all the family for a test. The teacher is young and fit, it is perfectly possible that she could be positive and not showing symptoms.
Unfortunately the people I work directly with are far more vulnerable.

The school had followed procedures correctly. I work in a school with confirmed cases and my DCs school has had confirmed cases, so been through this a couple of times.

Perfectly normal / sensible policy and if the teacher has no symptoms then they shouldn't be getting a test anyway.
I'm not sure why you think you have the right to know a teachers medical information.

I don’t think I have a right to personal information. The school themselves divulged the teacher. I just want to aware of any increased risk.

I thought you could only get a test if you had symptoms and then self isolate for 14 days or until you get a negative result. You could be waiting several days for results to come back even if you can get a test.

With all due respect, you are going to go through this again and again with having children in school. If you work with such vulnerable people would it not be a suggestion to speak to your employer about regular testing for you?

But the teacher isn’t eligible for a test. Neither are you and your family. You aren’t meant to be tested unless you develop symptoms.

Officially, the teacher shouldn’t have a test if they have no symptoms. Your family shouldn’t have a test if you have no symptoms. If everyone did this it explains why tests are so hard to get.

However, you are concerned about the people you work with. So do what you need to do I guess. Common sense vs the rules.

@lovingbeingmama, but for you all to go get a test is the reason why there have been problems with others not being able a test! People have explained it clearly.

She has been identified as a contact of someone who tested positive and is following procedure by SI. She doesn't need to have a test unless she displays symptoms.

I understand that you work with vulnerable people - perhaps ask your boss what they think you should do before you take your whole family to be tested.

*Am happy to be corrected about anything as I get that the rules are changing often

Testing your family would be useless.

Yes, it's possible that the teacher is asymptomatic.

But even if your son has been exposed, and gets a negative test result, he could still go on to develop the virus next week.

At that point he may or may not show symptoms, and go on to spread it to you. You then go on to spread it to your vulnerable clients, secure in the knowledge that you all had negative tests.

Whilst I sympathise with your anxiety you have no reason to test. Testing your whole family who not only are not symptomatic but it sounds like haven't been in contact with a positive case means that number of tests not available for people who may genuinely have symptoms and need a test. Them not being able to get one means they don't get diagnosed, their contacts can't be traced and thus puts others at increased risk.

The teacher doesn't need to be tested as it's meaningless if they get a negative result. They have to isolate for two weeks because it could develop at any point within that two weeks. So if they took a test straight away and it was negative, that doesn't mean they are not incubating it. It's the same reason why it's pointless for you to get your family tested now.
We have the same situation at school. I know the uncertainty for you is difficult but they are doing the right thing, all you can do is wait.

I understand your frustration but you're directing it in the wrong place. When staff/students in a school test positive the school has to Public Health England and follow their instructions. According to the guidelines, which are set by the Government, the school has done nothing wrong here and neither has the individual teacher.

The guidelines state that if you're identified as a close contact of a positive covid case you have to isolate for 2 weeks but are not eligible for a test in those circumstances unless you develop symptoms yourself. So unless this Teacher develops symptoms they won't be tested, they will stay at home as instructed until their 14 days is up and then return to work. If they test positive, the school will go back to PHE and take further instruction, close contacts will be identified and then parents will be informed. Until then there is nothing more for them to do. I understand your anxiety around this but the school are not allowed to give you any further information about this Teachers health at this stage.

Your family don't need testing and people doing this are causing shortages. FFS!

The school have been open about the fact the teacher is isolating due to being identified as a potential close contact.

(We've had bubbles going home. It doesn't mean every child has been within 2m of the case).

The teacher is isolating and does not require a test unless they develop symptoms.

But sure, have a good old whine about why the school won't give medical details or information about a test the teacher doesn't need and go clog up the test system

If the teacher has no symptoms then they should not be getting a test. That's government rules not school ones.

Your own family do not need to SI, or get a test, unless the teacher gets symptoms and tests positive.

You and your family should not get a test unless you get symptoms - even then it's only the one of you with symptoms, not all of you.

Think I’ll have to take all the family for a test. The teacher is young and fit, it is perfectly possible that she could be positive and not showing symptoms.

FFS. You do not need to be tested and neither do your family. We currently have Teachers, Pastoral staff and TA's who will be sat at home tomorrow instead of in school providing vital support to vulnerable kids because they have actual covid symptoms and can't get a test. Please don't compound this problem!

@Lovebeingmama

I don’t think I have a right to personal information. The school themselves divulged the teacher. I just want to aware of any increased risk.

But the increased risk would be negligible if any. The risk to your clients of being in contact with someone who is a contact of a contact of a contact of someone with Covid is negligible.

And you were messaged a week ago by the school, so your son’s contact must have been over a week ago. Any test now isn’t really going to tell you anything about your child’s risk. It seems unlikely that testing your child would help much either.

Anyway whole point of the teacher isolating is to prevent the vulnerable people you work with getting infected through that particular route of transmission.

Also different schools seem to be applying different rules to notification. A local primary to me has had one case. They shut down the entire nursery, year 1 and year 2 and sent all staff home (because they use the same door, not because they're in the same bubble) - it's all over their social media and they've even said that if parents of children in other year groups want to keep their children off until after half term, they will authorise the absence (I don't even know if they can do that)
Every parent has been notified by text and letter that they have one staff member who has tested positive.

By contract, the school I work in has had 17 cases in students and 4 in staff. That I know of. I say "that I know of" because I've only been directly informed about the 3 that were in my form (and so had to isolate) The rest has been through hearing about it from students or other staff.

School have been isolating kids who have been deemed to have been within close contact (so sitting next to the positive case on the seating plan) otherwise - no parent, student or staff member is told. And this is POSITIVE cases. Not just people isolating.

A letter goes out via parent mail after a few days to say "we've had another (or several other) positive cases but not to worry as you'll have been told if it affects you"

Almost every student in years 9 - 13 has had to isolate at some point and last week we had 32 staff isolating or waiting for a test.

So the chances are super high in my school that everyone has been near someone who is now isolating. If we take that as a measure to get a test we might as well shut the whole school down indefinitely

@Lovebeingmama

Think I’ll have to take all the family for a test. The teacher is young and fit, it is perfectly possible that she could be positive and not showing symptoms. Unfortunately the people I work directly with are far more vulnerable.

On what basis do you think you’ll be able to get a test! None of you have symptoms so you won’t be eligible.

If everyone who came in contact with someone who had come in contact with someone who had Covid (whilst displaying no symptoms) got a test, the entire system would breakdown. People who genuinely needed tests wouldn’t get them.