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.

@Bedsheets4knickers please keep your daughter off of school for 7 days, this is what I mean, noone is listening to the guidelines, this is why the virus is spreading.
Long story short, my son went on a school trip on Tuesday just gone, he came home with a cough, temp and snotty nose, his teacher assistant let me know that's he's clearly not wel and I've kept him off ever since, he ok now but he won't be going back untill Tuesday or Wednesday
And also, my son suffers from viral wheeze tbh all year round and needs an asthma pump to help him with that's (mostly in the winter though) so he does also cough randomly if he's been running around too much and what not but still... Please keep your daughter home. Not being nasty, I'm just thinking about the health of other children too.

The 111 online tool has a “help us improve this question” feedback form: 111.nhs.uk/covid-19

My daughter has a sore throat which has resulted in an occasional chesty cough. She will only cough infrequently. I guess I need to keep her off on Monday although I’m thinking it’s more likely to be tonsillitis than Coronavirus.

@WomanIsTaken it was but ignore me, I was just being snippy. Nerves getting the best of me I think!

Yes, nothing is just 'a cold' or 'a bug' at the moment. They are the backdrop against which the odds are chalked up, should one come into contact with the virus. My immune system is shot from catching one bug after another from pupils since November. Normally blessed with a cast iron constitution, I am very aware that I am at a definite disadvantage at present, should I be exposed to the virus. All because we have a school system that conditions and penalises parents in equal measure into sending sick kids to school, and an economy that has come to expect the impossible from working parents.

Thank you @Isolationmum and @comefromaway for answering. I'm really not being stupid asking what a continuous cough is but when I asked school on Friday they said they'd see it as a cough lasting a couple of days and reading this thread different people also have different interpretations of it, if they said new cough I think it'd be a lot less open to interpretation.

@Screamer

No one has asked any of you to diagnose whether your child had Covid-19. You have, however, been asked to stay at home if you have a new cough.

It's really not difficult to understand.

ONE MILLION PERCENT THIS ^

You are not being asked to guess whether your child's cough is Coronavirus, you are being asked to keep them at home because they have a fucking cough.

Yes, the rules apply to you. All of you.

New, CONTINUOUS / REPEATED cough.

Not defined.

That’s the problem: don’t blame parents for poor government advice.

Beebityboo, no worries. The schools issue is such a hot potato and I really wish it wasn't. I would love for it to be a complete no-brainer for all parents; an easy decision to make, with no shitty consequences, no dilemma. I also know that, at least in my area, it is vital that schools remain open for as long as absolutely possible, on account of the many vulnerable pupils in our care, who would likely have a very hard time of any lock-down scenario.

My youngest son will be off until Thursday. He had a cough start last week and came home from school with a temperature on Thursday. Friday was an inset day luckily. Chances are it's a cold or to do with his asthma, but the guidelines are clear so he'll be staying at home. He's rather pleased but seriously unimpressed that football has been cancelled.

DS has been robustly healthy while everyone else in my household has had colds for the past six weeks.

Tonight around 6 p.m. he coughed once, then some more, then said “I think I have a cough” and since then he’s been coughing regularly, even while absorbed in gaming.

So that seems pretty clear. New cough. Continuous cough. Keeping him in for the week.

So much eyeroll on this thread bi nearly fell over backwards.

New cough? Stay home. Your family are not immune to the new rules.

Normally blessed with a cast iron constitution, I am very aware that I am at a definite disadvantage at present, should I be exposed to the virus. All because we have a school system that conditions and penalises parents in equal measure into sending sick kids to school, and an economy that has come to expect the impossible from working parents.

This. Even under ordinary circumstances, I see no merit in children being forced to go to school to pass it on to the rest of the class. But if you can and do keep your children at home until they're not germ factories, you get letters about attendance!

FFS.

@sauvignonblancplz here's the letter that clearly states cough and temp. Parents will listen to the school they will assume that is what is recommended.

The issue is that it hasn’t described what constitutes a “continuous” cough.

I am baffled reading that people can't tell the difference between "a cough" and "I coughed because water went down the wrong way".

It's also been explained on the news a bunch of times.

Pretty sure it was today some doctor said "you'd know for certain you had a continuous cough within half a day".

Does this really need to be elaborated on further?

Also when they say "new cough" what they mean is if you always cough (because you're a smoker who has lung issues, because it's always been a part of your asthma etc) then it's not counted.

I still believe you should be keeping your child off for at least 7 days or until symptoms subside (whichever is longer) "if they've been coughing for a week but it's probably tonsillitis".

Nobody wants your childs tonsillitis.
Nobody wants your childs cold.

Just because they've had it for a week already DOES NOT mean it's not "new". It's "new" because it's not a pre-existing condition.

They are not ‘rules’

Guidelines

I think people are being picky with the guidance on purpose, surely people can work out of their child has coughed a couple of times as a one off or if they have been repeatedly coughing?! and/or have a temperature. If you're not sure keep them off, where is the harm? If they are fine then great, if they're not then it could be fatal to other people they may pass it on to.

Yes this is inconvenient for some people but it's the way it is at the moment until the government realise that people are going totally ignore the advice because they are special and rules don't apply to them and just shut the schools!!

school attendance figures who cares?

half a million people are going to die horribly in this country over the next few months and people still care about school attendance figures.....

missing a few weeks of school is the least of anyone's issues right now.

@oswin your school have got it very very wrong. is it state can you escalate to the council?

@Needtobepositive it can present as sore throat in mild cases so you dont know that. its mild in kids. keep her off and at home

@47InASense I've read several threads on this and you are the first person I've seen who has described a new cough this way. Both dd and ds do not have preexisting conditions but have had a cough as a result of colds etc for around a month or so and i have had one for about 7 days. Having seen you describe it this way I wonder if I should have self isolated since the advice changed on Thursday? The NHS 111 checker does say if it is only the cough thay persists at the end of the seven days then you can end the self isolation, is this common knowledge? I haven't felt unwell or had a fever but know this is no guarantee it's not corona virus. I'm also wanting to take my children to the gp because their coughs have lasted so long but I'm not sure if I should.

Fruit - our dr is now holding telephone conversations. I think Ds must have been one of the last patients seen for his cough. Nhs111 was very clear. A cough over 7 days old with no other symptoms doesn’t need to self isolate.

I think people are being picky with the guidance on purpose, surely people can work out of their child has coughed a couple of times as a one off or if they have been repeatedly coughing?! and/or have a temperature. If you're not sure keep them off, where is the harm? If they are fine then great, if they're not then it could be fatal to other people they may pass it on to.

Yes this is inconvenient for some people but it's the way it is at the moment until the government realise that people are going totally ignore the advice because they are special and rules don't apply to them and just shut the schools!!

Any child that coughs will be sent home on the advice of my LA. ☺️ I will not put other children at risk as long as the schools are open.

No one can judge this because they think they know there children better as they have never personally encountered anyone with covid19 never mind a child! We know symptoms are mild in children and lots have no symptoms.

Keep off and explain to the school that you are following government advice.

I have one!
Ds has a snotty cold, it’s been brewing for a week. The whole of his reception class have been coughing at each other, dry, hacking coughs for two weeks now. The teacher says it sounds like kennel cough. All fine.
My nursery daughter has caught it, exactly the same thing. Following the government guidelines I should keep her off, but I know where the cough is from and that its a cold.
Should I keep her off?

Yes keep her off!