Parents! Please don’t send your kid to school with a cough or temperature

[noblegiraffe]

We’ll have to send them home again, and that’s a whole lot of hassle that could have easily been avoided by parents following the government advice.

No, you don’t get to decide whether the cough or a fever is ‘simply a cold’. Neither do we. Just follow the guidelines please.

Apart from anything, it’s freaking their classmates out and we can really do without stressing out the kids even more about this.

Thank you.

Yes my DS’ cough is new, but it is not continuous. He has coughed maybe 3 times all day so far because he has a slight cold and the mucus drain from his nose has made him cough.

We need some better guidelines on “continuous” for me, it’s that they are coughing a lot more than 3 times in one morning.

This is exactly why the advice self isolate with a cough or fever is never going to work.

Most people believe it doesn't apply to them. Makes me so so mad.

Continuous - coughing, coughing, coughing.

Look, I have zero trouble remembering all the different kinds of coughs my kids have had over the years. It's very clear when a cough is continuous. They just cough, cough, cough.

And yet some people here think it just means "a cough".

I think new and continuous is straightforward. However, I also think if you’re not sure and your child has developed a cough over the last few days, self isolate. It’s better to be over cautious.

I suspect schools will close soon anyway.

In other words, you are usually well with no cough. That is your normal. Then, one day you develop a cough. It's new

Ok. So my cough that started on Tue is ‘new’ but I can go back to work on Mon because the 7 days are up? And I didn’t isolate when it started because that wasn’t the advice then?

Ok. I’ve just answered my own question. From Gov.uk:

Coughing may persist for several weeks in some people, despite the coronavirus infection having cleared. A persistent cough alone does not mean you must continue to self-isolate for more than 7 days

So I’ve poss had it. But I don’t need to isolate even though I’m still coughing.

The schools are always helping though - ours has posted advice which is now out of date and they have just sent out a txt message which reiterated their attendance policy. This states that if children are off for 3 days then they must provide a note from a GP. I've sent a polite but blunt email to point out that the school is irresponsible in insisting on a burden of evidence that stretches a system already at capacity. Schools must provide clear guidance which reflects PHE and NHS and stop banging the attendance drum at this time. It's confusing for parents and irresponsible. My rant is done and is not reflected at anybody on this thread.

The advice is clear as mud.

'New', 'continous', '7 days'.

I don't get it.

The Op said don't send to school if they have a cough and has subsequently backtracked talking about the 'new' bit.

If you isolate for 7 days and go back in school under the crappy guidance would you be sent home from school for still having it?

It's so subjective as to render it unhelpful and a nightmare for school to manage.

The whole point of isolation is to stop infection. If you are coughing still after 7 days even if you are 'getting better' you are still contagious and spreading it more when you cough.

The whole 7 day thing is even more nonsense than the new bit.

Don't send coughing children to school, Covid19 or not, unless they have a prior diagnosis of a non-infectious illness causing chronic cough.

I'd have missed months at school. It's not possible to do that. Children get coughs. They can last a month without it being chronic. They can't take that long off school as they'd get attendance police on their backs. Never mind parents losing jobs to look after kids.

Covid-19 circumstances are exceptional but the policy has to make some bloody sense.

It does not.

Reading the Gov doc, I’ve just noticed this:

Ending self-isolation
You should remain at home until 7 days after the onset of your symptoms. After 7 days, if you feel better and no longer have a high temperature, you can return to your normal routine.

But at the start of the doc it says cough and/or temperature. So which is it?

I think the government are putting too much faith in the great British public to follow simple guidance, too many people nowadays think they're special and know better and the rules don't apply to them.

So I’ve poss had it. But I don’t need to isolate even though I’m still coughing

If I took half term as day one ( which was more like week 3/4) we then have effectively self isolated for a week anyway ?!

Dd would have been off since just after new years ...

Bottom line: If the advice was clear there wouldn't be an 11 page thread discussing it!!!

If you are coughing still after 7 days even if you are 'getting better' you are still contagious and spreading it more when you cough.

When they announced the measure at the press conference on Thursday they explained that after 7 days your infectiousness has dropped so far that it is safe to go back to work / school if you still have a cough but are feeling well enough.

your infectiousness has dropped so far that it is safe to go back to work / school if you still have a cough but are feeling well enough

'Dropped so far' but still a little bit infectious?

So why do you have to self isolate for 14 days if you have been given a confirmed diagnosis?

But at the start of the doc it says cough and/or temperature. So which is it?

I guess if you still have a temperature then you’re still fighting infection. If you had a cough but no temp and you don’t develop a temp then you’re good to go back after 7 days?

The Op said don't send to school if they have a cough and has subsequently backtracked talking about the 'new' bit.

I haven’t backtracked, I said in my OP to follow the government advice.

Because there were kids in school on Friday whose parents were clearly not following the government advice. Kids with fevers. Kids with new coughs. Kids who knew they shouldn’t be in school.

I didn’t think I needed to provide some sort of medical triage service in my OP because it’s in the government advice that EVERYONE should already be aware of.

My OP is clear. Help teachers. Help schools. FOLLOW THE GOVERNMENT ADVICE.

Not sure? Err on the side of caution. Schools will thank you for it.

redtoothbrush, they didn't explain that.

At a guess I'd say it's either

• because people can have a diagnosis via testing before they have symptoms. And you are infectious before you have symptoms. So 14 days covers the "pre-symptom infectious" stage as well as the "infectious with symptoms". The 7 day advice only covers the "infectious with symptoms" bit.
• because a lot of coughs and temperatures are not corona virus. 7 days strikes a balance between lowering infection rates and ensuring the advice isn't so onerous that everyone ignores it.

It is worth remembering that they have also explained that they are not trying to stop the spread. They are trying to slow it down. So they are aiming to reduce how many people each infected person spreads it to, rather an stopping it altogether.

So why do you have to self isolate for 14 days if you have been given a confirmed diagnosis?

A logical conclusion is that they have stated 7 days in the hopes that more people will follow the guidelines.

Look at the amount of posts on Mumsnet (arguably one of the most "hysterical" places) saying "I don't think the rules apply to me".

Can you imagine how much worse that would be if the guidelines were 14 days for a cough / fever?

People would skirt it.

So I assume the government is going along the lines of "70% of people self-isolating for 7 days is better than 20% of people self-isolating for 14 days".

It feels odd keeping DS home when ordinarily he'd definitely be at school. But he's coughing a few times an hour, which seems enough to fall under the guidelines.

We had loads in today with coughs and fevers. When questioned, many said 'but I only have a cough, no fever'

People don't seem to grasp what OR means

Some parents were fantastic today, did exactly the right thing. Lots didn't.

Other excuses were 'mum said it was just a cold/cough, definitely not coronavirus'

Also 'I know I have a cough, but I don't want to self isolate for 7 days'

I'm slightly worried we aren't following the right guidelines. I'm very anxious and finding it hard to understand. Dd and ds have both had coughs for several weeks now (possibly over a month, but at least 3 weeks). I have had a cough for at least 10 days from when I first remember coughing. Dd and ds may have had a temperature at some point during their cough but definitely not in the last week and not requiring any medication or presented as particularly hot on back or chest so I've not felt the need to check it. I only know no temp in past week as have been checking to make sure given the current advice. I haven't had any temperature when I've checked myself or felt hot or feverish at all. Should we be isolating ourselves or carrying on with school and work? The advice seems to be that any cough needs 14 day isolation but on the NHS website it says if you have had a cough or temperature then once the temperature is better after 7 days you can go back outside. We haven't self isolated as that wasn't the advice when my cough started but it has been over 7 days.

Dd and ds have both had coughs for several weeks now (possibly over a month, but at least 3 weeks). I have had a cough for at least 10 days from when I first remember coughing.

So that's not a new cough. The guidance is quite clear by referencing a NEW cough.

The first set of guidance did. But the second seems to only say a cough and that's what the email from school said