To think this is going to end badly?

[Notthissticky]

COVID related

My work (secondary school) have just confirmed that pupils and staff will be tested using lateral flow tests. This involves self-administering a throat and nose swab. If you're identified as a close contact of a positive case, you can take daily tests and continue to attend school, instead of self-isolating.

Lateral flow tests have a false negative rate of between 30 and 50 percent, depending on who administers them (pupils as young as 11 in our case). So pupils can continue to mix (there's no social distancing in classrooms) after a close contact tests positive, whilst there's a 1 in 2 chance that they're actually positive. AIBU to think that this is going to result in a disaster of epic proportions???

My son age 6 came home with a lateral flow test letter, I’m unsure whether to sign it or not. Is this what they are going to do now to keep primary schools open?

@GameSetMatch

My son age 6 came home with a lateral flow test letter, I’m unsure whether to sign it or not. Is this what they are going to do now to keep primary schools open?

The plan is for them to be rolled out in primary in the spring, after a successful roll-out in secondary.

I wasn’t going to hold my breath for it

@formerbabe

I think it's better than nothing

i think isolating if a close contact is better than the madness of getting kids to test themselves. As for no symptoms - if conducted properly it is picking up 50% of cases that would otherwise be there away. kids testing themselves will probably reduce the effective rates some more though! .

By the way if the test is not done properly (as was the case when my 14 DC tried to do it) you will get an undecided result, not a false negative.

@Perfect28

Lateral flow are nasal only, you can find all the instructions online.

they are throat and nose as we have had an email instruction from school

It might not be better than nothing.

But it's as good as nothing.

@Elephant4

It might not be better than nothing.

But it's as good as nothing.

But it is worse than self-isolating which was the previous plan and remains the plan in all other sectors of the country.

[quote Perfect28]@bungleandgeorge I've just sourced the document your screenshot came from. Published in December apparently but I've been scouring the Internet for weeks trying to find any information, how curious... 🤨 So if the student self swabs, is it staff members/volunteers who have to 'process' the tests, so to speak? And where do the students go whilst they await their results? And what if the school doesn't have the non porous floor and suitable space etc etc. So many questions. All of which I think will be redundant at 8pm. I was online today and home and didn't get any information, DH's school didn't seem aware of any of this either. So patchy. [/quote]
It wasn’t my screenshot but it’s the same one we got from school. No information about your other points but as this is for asymptomatic screening by year group bubble I don’t think there’s any issue with having to isolate the students from each other. I guess there was an info pack sent to headteachers, but it was literally the last day of term!

www.newscientist.com/article/2263746-test-caught-just-3-per-cent-of-students-with-covid-19-at-uk-university/

Test caught just 3% of students with Covid19 when they did the test themselves. Still poor figures when the tet was done by a trained person
Inspires no confidence whatsoever does it?
What is this this government doing? Lying to us and smudging everything- just like Brexit really...

@Perfect28

Lateral flow are nasal only, you can find all the instructions online.

Someone has literally posted the instructions half a dozen posts below yours showing both nasal and throat swabs required 🤦‍♀️

I thought it was nose only?

There is no way my son will be able to swab his throat, a doctor struggled to see, he has a massive gag reflex and lacks some fine motor skills.

@bungleandgeorge sorry I got muddled with posters. I just find it strange that I can now find this doc dated the 15th on Google, it says the 23rd on the front but it obviously wasn't available on either of these dates or surely it would have been reported in the press? It also contains 'quotes' from schools who have already been testing but again this wasn't reported anywhere and surely if true the government would want to reassure us by saying 'look, we've done this successfully here, here and here'. I just feel like we are having the wool pulled over our eyes. I suppose it shouldn't surprise me given everything that's going on but it does feel very sinister, 1984 style rewriting history. Ugh.

Surely these LF tests won’t now go ahead if Bozo making an announcement at 8pm?

DD Yr 11 is supposed to be tested tomorrow. She hasn’t been seeing anyone outside of school, we didn’t mix with another household at Christmas and DH and I both WFH. I wrongly assumed everyone would be tested but that doesn’t seem to be the case now. Probably the ones who aren’t SD and are mixing outside of school will be the ones who refuse the test.

@randomrebel is she just supposed to be going in for the test or is she key worker child/vulnerable? Otherwise wouldn't she have the test when she's back in school next week?

@Randomrebel

Surely these LF tests won’t now go ahead if Bozo making an announcement at 8pm?

DD Yr 11 is supposed to be tested tomorrow. She hasn’t been seeing anyone outside of school, we didn’t mix with another household at Christmas and DH and I both WFH. I wrongly assumed everyone would be tested but that doesn’t seem to be the case now. Probably the ones who aren’t SD and are mixing outside of school will be the ones who refuse the test.

I can assure you I have been following all the rules to the letter. I will be accepting the screening test, but NFW will I skip self isolation in favour of daily testing. IMHO this is the only sensible course of action

Schools have arranged for kids to go in just for the test so that they’ve had 2 negative tests before they get back in the classroom. There’s no keyworker care this week I don’t think, it’s extra holiday time

@Ugzbugz

I thought it was nose only?

There is no way my son will be able to swab his throat, a doctor struggled to see, he has a massive gag reflex and lacks some fine motor skills.

I don’t know how many times I have to post that poster .

@BungleandGeorge

Schools have arranged for kids to go in just for the test so that they’ve had 2 negative tests before they get back in the classroom. There’s no keyworker care this week I don’t think, it’s extra holiday time

There is key worker and vulnerable pupil care at my school this week, and we will also start doing live online lessons before the end of the week

If not isolating contacts but using unreliable tests instead is a world beating track and trace system......

Nope. Literally have no words 🤦‍♀️

Yes but surely the test is only valid at this moment in time and if schools are to close for the whole of January which seems likely the tests will be meaningly by then?

DD’s best friends sister yr13 was tested today and she had to wait for over 2 hours in the cold, which all seems a bit pointless.

Boris has closed all schools as they have decided that they may be "vectors for transmission". {I thought he said that about cricket balls in the summer}.

Exams are cancelled.

Exams are cancelled.

As far as anyone knows, the BTEC exams happening this week are going ahead.

"We recognize that it is not possible for all exams to go ahead as normal. The Education Secretary will work with Ofqual to put in place alternative arrangements." is what was sandwiched in there between nurseries remaining open and support for free school meals. I might have imagined it, but there seemed to me to be an emphasis on the all so I suspect they're still going to try to have some.

@BiBabbles

Exams are cancelled.

As far as anyone knows, the BTEC exams happening this week are going ahead.

"We recognize that it is not possible for all exams to go ahead as normal. The Education Secretary will work with Ofqual to put in place alternative arrangements." is what was sandwiched in there between nurseries remaining open and support for free school meals. I might have imagined it, but there seemed to me to be an emphasis on the all so I suspect they're still going to try to have some.

Exactly the impression I got, not as definitive as ‘all exams cancelled’. Non committal but sounds like some may go ahead