Cough, should I keep him off school??

[AnxiousPixie]

Y2DS has a cough, else fine in himself. We have been doing LFTs twice a week so I know it's not COVID. Prepandemic I world have sent him to school cause it's not bad enough to be off but sending him in with a cough now just feels a bit wrong. I really don't want him to miss any more leaving unnecessarily though. What do you all think?

Yabu - keep him away with a cough, the rest of us just don't need it.
Yanbu - hes missed enough, if he's not too I'll to be at school send him.

I will have to miss work if I keep him home but that's not the most important thing.

@MrsColon

Get a PCR but please send him in, school-age children do not need to self isolate, despite what some schools are saying.

Incorrect.

Everyone, including children, self isolates with symptoms. As a close contact of someone who has symptoms, you take a PCR but you don’t need to self isolate if you are double vaccinated or a child unless the result comes back positive.

@AnxiousPixie

Thanks for all your lovely comments. Have booked him a PCR. I have also contacted the school. There isn't actually a rule that says he has to isolate while waiting for results but I will keep him at home until we have the neg.

Again, incorrect. Screenshots from the NHS and gov.uk websites.

Not sure if they attached…

@AnxiousPixie

Thanks for all your lovely comments. Have booked him a PCR. I have also contacted the school. There isn't actually a rule that says he has to isolate while waiting for results but I will keep him at home until we have the neg.

I thought it had always been the rule that if you have symptoms you had to isolate while waiting for results?

I thought you had to wait until you had your negative too. That's why I WILL keep him off until I have the neg, just while everyone is jumping on me.

But, that's not the advice I have had from school. They said he is welcome in until he had a confirmed positive. I don't think that's responsible so I'm keeping him off.

I will write to the school later and say I think they have got there policy wrong!

Everyone has to do a pcr test and self isolate whilst they wait for the results if they have symptoms. The rule is very clear.

The not self isolating is if you are a contact of someone and dont have symptoms yourself you can pcr without isolating.

But, that's not the advice I have had from school. They said he is welcome in until he had a confirmed positive. I don't think that's responsible so I'm keeping him off.

I wonder if they've got mixed up when you said you've tested and it's negative, perhaps they thought you meant it was a negative PCR, not LFT. I just can't believe any school has said they're happy for a child with symptoms to come in while waiting for PCR results.

My DD is on her third set of absences for a cough and to get a PCR, so you have my sympathy!

I'm glad you've decided to get the test and are keeping him off. But honestly, how can anyone still write "We have been doing LFTs twice a week so I know it's not COVID." ?

He needs a PCR.

I can’t believe so far into this pandemic that people just don’t get it. LFT’s are if you are symptom free, he’s got a cough so needs a PCR test. Blimey, it’s not difficult to understand.

@AnxiousPixie

I thought you had to wait until you had your negative too. That's why I WILL keep him off until I have the neg, just while everyone is jumping on me.

But, that's not the advice I have had from school. They said he is welcome in until he had a confirmed positive. I don't think that's responsible so I'm keeping him off.

I will write to the school later and say I think they have got there policy wrong!

Hi OP, I hope your son is ok and that you get a negative result asap 👍 As a Year 2 teacher, with 17/30 of my class testing positive since September, I appreciate you doing the right thing and testing 🥰

Your child's school is definitely wrong in their policy though...you DO need to keep a symptomatic child off until you get a negative test back. It is only asymptomatic children who are allowed in whilst waiting for a result. Fingers crossed for a speedy, negative result.

You have to take him for a pcr and keep him at home until the results are in. If he has symptoms he needs a more accurate test than a lft.
We've had Covid and myself and my dd both tested negative on lft on the same day we tested positive on pcr.

School also advised us that we legally didn't have to keep him off whilst we waited for the results but rathered we did!

It certainly used to be the rules that you self isolated while waiting on the results. We are certainly doing that. Negative on al PCR yesterday. So it’s one of the other viruses that still exist that cause a cough and cold.

He had symptoms so had to isolate until he has a negative PCR.
If he were having a PCR as a close contact with no symptoms then he wouldn’t need to isolate unless/until he got a positive result.

Lft was negative , did a pcr on ds and it was positive
I had a positive pcr too and lft was still showing negative, I think they are shite
If u got a kid at school this winter, assume every cold is covid .

You need to do a PCR.

I had a cold, with a temperature over the weekend. I did a lft which was negative but booked pcr anyway. I messaged some work clients to say I was waiting for a pcr test but would hopefully be in later.
At least 2 people saw me later (the test was negative so I went to work in the afternoon) and asked what the result was! If I wasn't going to isolate for a positive PCR then I wouldn't have isolated while waiting!! (Or bother doing the test at all)

Kept my kids off for cough while awaiting PCR results and our school called and said send them in if I felt they were well enough as under 18s don’t have to self isolate while awaiting results…I did question this as they had symptoms but school was insistent. Thankfully they had their negative results come in shortly after.

You can't possibly KNOW it's not Covid. LFTs don't pick up all cases he needs a PCR. It's worrying how many people don't get this (you're not the only one OP) when we're so far down the line.

@BlueFlavour

To be fair the rule of PCR with a cough has never changed!!

@Drunkpanda

I'm glad you've decided to get the test and are keeping him off. But honestly, how can anyone still write "We have been doing LFTs twice a week so I know it's not COVID." ?

Because of the mixed messages on LFTs. I know they’re not reliable but do rely on them to some extent.

PCR testing takes too long in many cases!

Round here several people have had to isolate kids for 3 days waiting for pcr results.

The flipside if we have to test for every cold and it takes so long is that people won't as it's so hard taking time off work each time.

DD is on day 6 of isolation following a positive PCR. Started with headache, looking pale, high temperature and cough. Just before symptoms properly appeared, I did a LFT which was negative. This is how this winter is going to go!