To send my child back to school without getting test results!

[Dickorydockwhatthe]

I'm on the 5th day of waiting for his results. Ds 1 tests came back negative, still waiting for ds 2 who is fine. We are all fine. I can't afford time off work, ds needs to go back to school. 119 are useless. They have finally lodged a complaint but could take 3 days from now and then it could be lost. What should I do? I'm at breaking point with it all and theres no one to complain to!!

I don't blame you at all. It's fine if you have the kind of job where you can work from home or a contract that gives you some protection. I know that my employer would reduce my shifts if this happens to me. The £500 is useful for two weeks but if you don't have contracted hours you will lose work permanently which £500 won't cover!

So am I right in saying both boys can go back after 10 days from onset of their symptoms regardless of a test unless we get a positive? 🤔 But it's still 14 days for us?

I'm on a zero hour contract so unlikely to get anything of I don't work I don't get paid. We have a mortgage and dh normally earns a good wage so probably won't get anything. He may have to see if he can use his annual leave.

@Dickorydockwhatthe

So am I right in saying both boys can go back after 10 days from onset of their symptoms regardless of a test unless we get a positive? 🤔 But it's still 14 days for us?

No. It's 14 days for DS1 as well - his counter reset when he was in contact with his brother's symptoms.

DS2 should isolate for at least 10 days from the onset of his symptoms.

Ahh @Dickorydockwhatthe your getting a right battering on here.

The system is shit, the government are shit, the rules are shit and make zero sense!!

To be fair a cough and a temp could be at least 10 other bloody thing other than covid!

Some people really don’t grasp how much this can bugger people up...I know my boss will have a shit fit when it happens 🤷‍♀️

@Dickorydockwhatthe

So am I right in saying both boys can go back after 10 days from onset of their symptoms regardless of a test unless we get a positive? 🤔 But it's still 14 days for us?

No because ds1 was negative. His is 14 days from when ds2 started symptoms assuming ds2 is positive. If his test is negative it will be 14 days for ds1 from when he was notified originally but ds2 can return to school and you and dh to work.

My friend works as teacher in secondary school, a kid got his positive result while in class, his sister got tested same time as him and she was negative so he thought would be ok and he ended up positive!

I haven’t read the whole thread. I’m so sorry to hear that you are suffering financially. I honestly don’t know what I would do in your situation. Clearly the tier system isn’t working because people can’t afford to stay at home to isolate when they have symptoms. Instead of wreaking the economy, they should look at properly financially compensating people, like yourself, to isolate properly.

I’m sorry you are going threw this and I hope you get the results before tomorrow morning so you don’t need to worry about this.

That friend is friend down south, teacher friend in liverpool , they keep having kids coming back before getting results and thats how its spreading. She knows people in icu and who have died, said in March she didnt. Says its nightmare

I’m on day 4 of waiting for my DD’s test result. I called after 48 hours as per the instructions on the test receipt card and was told, like you, that they can’t investigate a delayed result until day 5 and then it can take another 3 days to find it. Apparently until last week they could investigate after 48 hours, but obviously they’re struggling at the moment.

I’m really frustrated too but lucky we can both work from home, the bigger issue of course is that it’s far too late to stop it spreading if Dd is positive as she was in pre school the 2 days before her symptoms started.

I am appalled that the government haven’t been able to sort the testing system out, it’s going to cause even more deaths which would otherwise have been avoided. It’s shameful. We’re all making huge sacrifices and they can’t sort out the system. I shielded for 11 weeks at their request and that was at huge personal cost for me and my family, but it was right to do it to protect myself, others and the nhs and give the government time to sort the testing system out. And this is the best they can do! I’ve written to my (Tory) MP too but doubt it’ll do any good.

Send them both back Monday. Re-testing won't be conclusive so long after symptoms.

That's it the system isn't working even results come back now its too late to stop any spread that's happened. I don't want to claim a grant when I can earn my own wage. They need to sort it out the financial impact will be huge on families and businesses!! Ds 1 and ds 2 practically had symptoms the same day so still doesn't make any sense about the 14 day isolation!! If they came together I wouldn't be having this bloody issue!!

Sorry @Dickorydockwhatthe I didn't mean to insinuate anything. It seemed from the other thread, someone linked to, that your ds1 had contact earlier. It is a complicated situation, and lots of people are either getting confused with the different guidelines around symptoms/contact and who has to isolate, or getting frustrated and going back earlier than guidelines say.

It is crap that there isn't more support, and very shit that the testing system is so bad...as I said earlier, we had to wait 17 days at the end of June, having to change the date of my mum's funeral. We then had to isolate for 8 days a week into schools going back, waiting for a test and results. Ds is now isolating for 14 days due to a case in his class. I have given up my job, I've had to take ds out of school....It is not easy.

@HazeyJaneII

Sorry *@Dickorydockwhatthe* I didn't mean to insinuate anything. It seemed from the other thread, someone linked to, that your ds1 had contact earlier. It is a complicated situation, and lots of people are either getting confused with the different guidelines around symptoms/contact and who has to isolate, or getting frustrated and going back earlier than guidelines say.

It is crap that there isn't more support, and very shit that the testing system is so bad...as I said earlier, we had to wait 17 days at the end of June, having to change the date of my mum's funeral. We then had to isolate for 8 days a week into schools going back, waiting for a test and results. Ds is now isolating for 14 days due to a case in his class. I have given up my job, I've had to take ds out of school....It is not easy.

No worries and that's OK. It's just rubbish isn't it I'm never sick off work ever and I feel so guilty. That's awful about having to change your mums funeral sorry to hear that. Sounds like you've had a really rubbish, difficult few months.

We’ve just had this at school. Parents sent the kid back as everyone else in the house was negative.

The last child came back positive.

33 other students now at home for two weeks.

Don’t be that person.

What a nightmare, @Workingmum34!

So you think it's OK for you to send your child to school where they could come into very close contact with school staff like me, knowing they are showing symptoms of a deadly virus because you're finding it a bit difficult?! How unbelievably selfish are you! I'll bet you're the kind of parent who also sends their child in when they've got a sickness bug and happily let us all catch it. People like you make me so angry. Don't you understand that your actions affect everybody in the school? I've already had to work twice as long as I should have last week, and will again this week, due to staff having to isolate. But that's probably OK with you because it doesn't affect you does it? If you're not prepared to stay at home with your own children when they have a potentially deadly illness, I'd really question whether you should be a parent in the first place.

The tests have a lot of false negatives, i.e. the result is negative but actually the person has Covid. For this reason, and because second other child might have picked it up from a different source, both of your DC with symptoms need testing, and as a PP said, the clock resets on your negative DC1 as he might then catch Covid from an infected DC2.

It's an absolute pain, but please I beg you, do not send your child back. We have a highly vulnerable DS (6) at school, he was shielding but that has ended so he's back and we're worried. You might think there are no vulnerable children in your child's class, but I doubt anyone in DS's class, except those we know really well, have any idea of his condition. Vulnerable people usually look absolutely normal.

Can I just ask, why do people that agree it’s fine to send them back think that’s ok? It’s this selfish ‘all about me’ attitude that is causing chaos in schools. For example; personal experience of 6 members of staff and 60 children ( who are too young to look after selves so affects their parent/s too! are having to Self isolate for 14 days because one child’s family decided to not self isolate or wait for test results and turned out they were positive.
Remember the actions of a few not following rules in schools affect a significant number of others!

Surely the school will ask u what ds2 results are. Aee you going to lie?

A colleague was in a similar situation, her, dh and dd had symptoms so were tested. Dh and dd came back negative hers went missing. All symptoms over after just a few days. Too late to retest. 119 advise was if dh and dd were negative and they were all well she could return to work.

It's thoroughly shit, and the government have completely failed us by not having the testing system returning test results in 24 hours, but you have to keep him and the rest of the family off if he had symptoms.

We were in a similar boat a few weeks ago, ds had a persistent cough, up most the night. Took 3 days to get a test and then we didn't ever get a result back. We all stayed home for 14 days. It was rubbish. I'm angry but what can you do?

Child who was exposed has to self isolate regardless of test result. Doesn’t matter if it comes back negative.

Try checking with the GP to see if they have had his results? When I had a test the result went to my gp too.

I honestly despair. Yes , it’s very tough having to wait and losing income - his much tougher will you find it if the school closes again/ your child’s teacher is made seriously ill via your child; your child passes Covid to classmates? Incase you hadn’t grasped it, it’s a pandemic- we are all making sacrifices ( schools possibly second only to NHS and carers) but in your entitlement you don’t give a monkeys about the rules or the fact your child could be asymptomatic but still carrying the virus. I’m sorry you are having to wait for a test , but show some social and moral responsibility rather than just looking out for number 1.