Child's class bubble close but should it have been?

[TellerTuesday4EVA]

This also happened to a friend with DC at a different school.

Message to parents last night, DD's class bubble will now be closed and children to isolate for 14 days as a child in the bubble has tested positive over the weekend.

Class group chat starts, one mum comes on & says it's X but we're ok. Then says X doesn't have any symptoms, was me on Friday afternoon and husband Saturday but we got her tested anyway and it's positive.

Now every single thing I have read says only to have a test if you develop symptoms. X would have to self isolate anyway due to the parents having positive tests but by getting her tested they now closed the bubble and all 30 kids are at home for 14 days. This what would happen if following the rules but then it shows the system if flawed as this child obviously did have it and was asymptotic.

So I don't know if I'm right to be annoyed by this or not. I'm certainly not looking forward to 2 weeks home schooling again.

[quote TellerTuesday4EVA]@JacobReesMogadishu but who will they infect? They're in a bubble together and have gone home to their families each night last week. Because of the lockdown they aren't mixing with anyone else anyway. [/quote]
I don’t think you understand the point of isolating.
If the asymptomatic child passed it on to 2-3 other kids last week for example, those kids are now isolating so they don’t pass it further round the class/to the teacher/to anyone else they might encounter.
It’s to reduce further spread.

The whole reason that the kids are now isolating is so that they don’t unwittingly go passing it around in the community and to protect school staff who may not yet have been infected. What is there that doesn’t make sense to you about that?

She does understand the need for isolation!

The point she’s making is that according to current guidelines the student shouldn’t have been tested in the first place.

She is just highlighting how flawed the system is because the current guidelines mean that potential positive, but asymptomatic students are still allowed in school.

Of course it’s good the student’s positive test has been acted on, but if guidelines had been followed, although she would have been isolating, the rest of her classmates would still be in school, which in hindsight would have been a big problem.

Nobody should be getting arsey with the OP because she pointing out a flawed system - they should be getting arsey with the Government and demand the testing guidelines change to say everyone who lives with a positive person should always be tested - even if they don’t have symptoms.

So using your logic... I have one at home for 2 weeks as her teacher tested positive last week. They were a class bubble so the whole class was sent home.
Do you think they should all have stayed in school in their bubble as they were all exposed to the positive case anyway, so no point isolating?

Your logic is completely backwards. You should be reassured that the spread of the virus has been identified, so the bubble are isolating to stop it being spread further.

[quote TellerTuesday4EVA]@JacobReesMogadishu but who will they infect? They're in a bubble together and have gone home to their families each night last week. Because of the lockdown they aren't mixing with anyone else anyway. [/quote]
Kids in other bubbles who they hang out with on the playground or walk to and from school with? Probably shouldn’t happen but I see it.

Kids in the playground at the weekend because the playground is still open?

Kids at their childminders from other bubbles/schools?

People in the supermarket when their parents take them round Tesco which is still allowed? Or round the garden centre?

For secondary school kids, kids on the school bus. So local secondary school are in class bubbles and then all the bubbles mix on the buses on the way home!

so is the system not process/guidance not flawed somewhere?

The problem with this virus is that many people - especially children- have it, have no symptoms (asymptomatic) but can pass it on. Others could become very ill.

The other problem is a completely incompetent government.

@ThornAmongstRoses

The whole reason that the kids are now isolating is so that they don’t unwittingly go passing it around in the community and to protect school staff who may not yet have been infected. What is there that doesn’t make sense to you about that?

She does understand the need for isolation!

The point she’s making is that according to current guidelines the student shouldn’t have been tested in the first place.

She is just highlighting how flawed the system is because the current guidelines mean that potential positive, but asymptomatic students are still allowed in school.

Of course it’s good the student’s positive test has been acted on, but if guidelines had been followed, although she would have been isolating, the rest of her classmates would still be in school, which in hindsight would have been a big problem.

Nobody should be getting arsey with the OP because she pointing out a flawed system - they should be getting arsey with the Government and demand the testing guidelines change to say everyone who lives with a positive person should always be tested - even if they don’t have symptoms.

You realise that that would basically mean the whole country being tested and everyone self isolating for two weeks? Like EVERYONE.

Then all back to normal then the cycle just starts again because it’s a global pandemic

Rainbow:
"Have you not seen the playgrounds?
Some grandparents may be still helping with after school childcare
The kids may be taken to the doctors/hospitals/ food shopping etc."

All those things shouldn't be happening. They are. But they shouldn't be.

Who is taking their kids to the doctors? As if they are sat in a waiting room? Like the old days, contaminating everyone.

Everyone I know, their GP surgery is nigh on closed, only doing phone calls.

The whole point about bubbles is to limit the number of people who have to isolate. So ONLY 29 other kids self-isolate, instead of closing the whole school because they don’t know who else the infected child had been in contact with.

You realise that that would basically mean the whole country being tested and everyone self isolating for two weeks? Like EVERYONE.

I’m not saying I agree with the testing of asymptomatic testing of people who live with a positive case. I don’t think it should be done.

I was suggesting it to all the posters who are frothing at the mouth about the fact that OP is talking about how the child was wrong to get tested in the first place.

A lot of children have been randomly invited to test as part of research the child may well of been one of those invited anyway and so the parents now used it. We have one sat there for middle child which we haven’t used yet but the codes sat there for an automatic delivery of test.

Lot of children have been invited so technically lots of children are having tests they don’t need and that’s how they are catching some of those in school positive cases. Just like you can also go private for testing for travel or just want to purposed.

@ThornAmongstRoses the OP has made comments that make it very clear that she doesn’t think the class should have to isolate. She has implied that it’s pointless isolating this week if they had contact with the positive case last week already and had questioned who the children are likely to infect. I don’t think she’s suggesting that we widen testing to drive down infections.

u realise that that would basically mean the whole country being tested and everyone self isolating for two weeks? Like EVERYONE.

Why would it? I haven’t been in contact with anyone who’s positive so why would I need testing and isolating?

Even if that happened isn’t it a good thing? Isn’t that what they’re doing in Liverpool....or attempting to? Test everyone regardless of symptoms or contact. Find all the asymptomatic people and stop the spread. We were told the only way to stop the virus is to have a world beating testing system. Which we are very far from having. China have done this, tested whole cities of millions of people within 4 days. Look at their rates compared to ours! Look at how they’ve so far gone back to normal life compared to us!

I get what you mean OP, normally this child wouldn’t have been tested as you are meant to only get a test if you have symptoms. Chances are many of our kids are playing and learning alongside someone with covid and don’t know it as that child has no symptoms.

Now they are rolling out the local testing in places like Liverpool I’m guessing a lot of kids will be sent home because they are testing people without symptoms. A lot of parents and kids are going to be stuck at home with no child care.

It’s good that they are testing more as we have more chance of controlling the virus but it’s also frustrating as many kids will be off school.

Everyone I know, their GP surgery is nigh on closed, only doing phone calls.

Dd has been physically to the GP surgery 3x in the last couple of months including sitting in the waiting room. She’s also had one hospital appt and an opticians appt. She has another hospital appt later this month.

For some people medical care is carrying on.

I understand the point you are making. That the year group is off because the child was tested 'just because'. However, think of the children of ECV parents. They are in school. If they pick up the virus, they can take it home to their parents. Whilst you are annoyed, I bet they are relieved at the pre-emptiveness.

@JacobReesMogadishu

u realise that that would basically mean the whole country being tested and everyone self isolating for two weeks? Like EVERYONE.

Why would it? I haven’t been in contact with anyone who’s positive so why would I need testing and isolating?

Even if that happened isn’t it a good thing? Isn’t that what they’re doing in Liverpool....or attempting to? Test everyone regardless of symptoms or contact. Find all the asymptomatic people and stop the spread. We were told the only way to stop the virus is to have a world beating testing system. Which we are very far from having. China have done this, tested whole cities of millions of people within 4 days. Look at their rates compared to ours! Look at how they’ve so far gone back to normal life compared to us!

You honestly think that neither you or anyone in your house has been in contact with anyone who would return a positive test if they were tested right now? The OP is even about a kid who was asymptotic. Do you see the flaw in what you are saying.

Of course you have been in contacted with someone positive. Likely loads of times

I wish our bloody school would close the bubbles.
In the last week we've had 5 in the same year group one after the other test positive, plus one teacher, but the school is open and hasn't been shut for a deep clean. They are doing a track and trace method here and it's clearly not working, also the older ones have younger siblings who aren't sent home unless they have a test or are in a positive test household.
All because one moronic family ignored the "do not meet in groups" rule and allowed their kids to do exactly that.
So now it's in school and they're really not following the rules and no doubt the rest of School will drop like flies.

The child should not have been tested. There is little evidence that asymptomatic children spread covid. Many European countries have stopped testing children under 12 altogether, instead just asking symptomatic children to stay at home until they are well. No long isolation periods, no closure of bubbles, children actually getting an education.

I’d be pissed off too OP.

They weren’t tested “just because”. When you turn up to a test centre with symptoms, especially if more than one person in the family has symptoms, they often offer to test other members of the household too. It’s happened to several families I know of. It’s just not true that they would have had to lie to get a test. Where I live there is a test centre that pops up once per week and tests people without symptoms. As school staff I’m emailed about it weekly with a location.

OP this must be really frustrating as barely anyone is reading what you are actually saying (though your title is clumsily worded).

What irritates me is the "class bubble" all being sent home - which seems really common in schools. It's only close contacts that should be isolating, not just everyone in sight.

I understand your point- if everyone had followed guidance nobody except the child with positive parents would be isolating. So yes, I think not tasting the household or close contacts unless they have symptoms is stupid and almost like the govt. want a decent amount of spreading. But I'll probably be called a conspiracy theorist for that.

And if your dc did get a test, and it's negative, they aren't allowed back to school anyway.

We had that recently. Child x was announced positive. Many parents who were told to isolate didn't think their child had been in 'close contact' with said child. They insisted on getting their well/showing no signs/asymptomatic child a test (although lord knows how they managed this because loads of my friends who really did need a test, couldn't get one!) and then test was negative. But school said child needed to carrying on isolating anyway.

So then getting/wasting a test was pointless.

*testing not tasting

Bloody hell! It is irrelevant whether she has symptoms or not, she is covid positive so yes the bubble should close!