DDs school want me to COVID test her, AIBU to say no?

[mybossisaprick]

Dd, who is in primary school, has got the cold that’s been going round. She’s not too unwell in herself, and is happily playing, but she has a husky voice and a cough. She’s maybe a bit more tired than normal, but nothing that would mean she would need to stay off school. If she was unwell enough to miss school, I’d keep her off.

Her teacher pulled me aside at pickup time and asked me if she’d taken a COVID test. I said no, she hadn’t. Teacher asked me why not, and I explained that she wasn’t unwell enough to miss school, and so there was no point testing her for COVID. Teacher said that I should test her anyway, and if positive she should stay home. I explained that myself and my partner both have to work, we don’t get enough leave as it is, and whilst if DD was actually unwell in herself and couldn’t go to school, one of us could stay off with her, but since she’s not, we really don't have the resources to be taking time off. Also, I don’t have easy access to tests and I’d rather not buy a test when I don’t need to.

AIBU to tell this teacher that I wouldn’t be testing DD?

What action do you suggest? Honestly? I'm not being sarcastic, I'm genuinely interested in what measures you think should be in place.

A lot of the online bleaters are probably bone idle and looking for an excuse to stay home anyway.

These are the same people who didn't want lockdown to ever end. You see plenty of them on the Guardian as well. Moan moan moan about Covid and yet complain that the economy is trashed. No bloody wonder it was trashed with a two year lockdown.

Maybe we should take flu tests.
Im reporting the ‘long covid is a grift’ bit. Tell that to my friend who had covid back in March 2020 and still can’t work, walk, do her hobbies, stand long enough to feed her children. What a vile comment to make. You really are unpleasant. You didn’t take long to get to the conspiracy nonsense I predicted either, did you?

Definitely. The furloughed were ecstatic and so pissed that the gravy train had to come to an end.

Some sort of protection to reduce the chances of us all getting permanent damage maybe? I don’t think a few days of isolation for a positive test should be beyond the government/companies to support. Would probably result in fewer sick days overall if people stopped passing it around all the time.

You sound nice.
No, wait…you sound utterly horrible. What a vile thing to say about people.

There are anti-virals available to help vulnerable people through Covid. I was classed as severely at risk and shielded during Covid. I still caught it - and before vaccines were available - and was seriously ill. Since vaccinations I have caught it a couple of times and although still unpleasant it wasn’t anything like the first time round, despite the underlying vulnerability still being present. I’ve had anti-virals and they work. So I don’t think realistically there’s much more we can do other than be aware if cases are rising in our local areas, wear masks, wash hands and stay vaccinated.

Everyone wanted lockdown to end.
You’ve misunderstood both the news and the science.
We wouldn’t have been locked down so long if it had been sooner and less porous at the borders. Not locking down would have trashed the economy too. And endless sickness now (with the risk of permanent damage) doesn’t help it either.

And you sound woefully naive and also paranoid. 2020 is over. Nobody has to pander to mass hypochondria.

Do you hate everyone?
I wasn’t furloughed, by the way.

That’s just marvellous for those of us who are immunocompromised.

Teachers do not have the authority to compromise children’s education in order to prioritise their holiday plans. I would be talking to the head teacher and the chair of governors’ about this.

It’s not hypochondria when it’s a real illness, silly.
You really don’t understand science. Or the economy. Or human nature.

@Ravenclaw101
WOW! - how nasty and judgmental!

Are people still at this covid crap? Tell the teacher do one (not the test)

Sadly, the banana bread brigade are still strong on here.

@Paperwhiteflowers why does your vaccine not protect you?

No, I am very social. I just don't hang around paranoid hypochondriacs.

It is a fact of life that there are immunocompromised people. In most schools, there will be children with allergies, vitamin deficiencies, various conditions that make them more vulnerable to illness. If all children had to stay at home just in case of their potential effect on others a) attendance would be poor b) their education would suffer c) many parents would find themselves in financial difficulty or facing losing their jobs. The teacher was wrong.

YANBU, unless the school have previously sent a letter home asking parents to notify them of cases of measles, COVID etc., because they have another student who is vulnerable to infection and would probably stay home/take medication if they knew they'd been exposed to certain things.

I would test. This member of staff might have health issues, or family members with them. If you had elderly family members, would you send your coughing child to spend time with them? I hope you would test to establish if you were putting thrm at risk of covid. I don't care what the rules are now, it's good manners and being considerate of others.

Absolute no chance. Kids have missed enough of norma childhood

There is so little consideration for kids in all of this. It made me angry in 2020 and it makes me even angrier now.

Apologies @VanityDiesHard yes I had got the wrong poster! This thread is so frustrating! So many still living in 2020 forgetting that other illnesses have always existed and we just lived alongside them then.