Toddlers & coughs - how realistic is quarantine each time?

[Stinkywizzleteets]

My kids returned to school /nursery 2 weeks ago. Already had to have youngest tested in first week back due to temperature at nursery - it was negative but scary for everyone involved from nursery to ourselves and of course our toddler having a throat and nasal swab done in a car park.

They’ve now got a cough. Eldest has a cold (sneezing, no temp, no cough) My toddler always seems to have a cough with a cold. Based on previous years, it’s likely to last a long time and so is unlikely to be covid but this scenario poses a problem that parents of toddlers and asthmatic kids are going to experience again and again.

It seems so impractical that everytime they have a cough they have to be tested and stay off Nursery 14 days or longer until it’s gone. For us, that will probably be next March now as they have persistent winter coughs and have had every winter since birth. Going by guidelines that means the whole family is in Quarantine for 14 days each time but what if, like previous years it lasts weeks at a time, has a few days respite then starts all over again? Are we to write off work & school completely until next year or a vaccine? Nursery say they don’t really know what to do as all kids will get bugs, snotty noses and coughs and the long term isolation of lockdown means toddler’s immune systems have not had to fight shared toddler bugs and so they’re going to get everything.

I just don’t know how this is going to work longer term. Employers aren’t going to be happy with staff off all winter cos they have susceptible kids & with so many looking for work, it won’t be long before people are being replaced. We’re going to struggle paying for nursery with statutory sick pay for a place the toddler can’t attend and my eldest who rarely ever has a sniffle is likely to miss a lot of school in their final year of primary because their sibling catches everything.

What are parents going to do? What’s reasonable when covid is unlikely but there are still symptoms?

Ds has a cough and was tested. Cough started on Friday and he was tested On Sunday, negative result received Monday and was allowed back to nursery on Tuesday (still had cough for a while).

Nursery were clear that as long as test negative then fine for him to be there. If any other symptoms develop later on such as a temperature then another test needs to be done.

This is what worries me, the amount of tests a child could end up with. My son would struggle with one and definitely refuse and others in future.

I refuse to listen to the false negative clan on here.

A lot of people refusing to listen to all sorts of things to do with covid.

Doesn't change the facts.

Many negative results are incorrect. Is one of the reasons why in medical settings they need two negative results.

I hope the testing is ready for the numbers that will hit once schools return

@Gillian1980

Ds has a cough and was tested. Cough started on Friday and he was tested On Sunday, negative result received Monday and was allowed back to nursery on Tuesday (still had cough for a while).

Nursery were clear that as long as test negative then fine for him to be there. If any other symptoms develop later on such as a temperature then another test needs to be done.

I think that is crap of the nursery. How many other parents are also going to need to isolate for 3 days while they wait for test results now?

@NotAKaren there has been n increase in testing in Scotland but not a massive amount. The kids are starting to pick up colds (who said the bugs disappeared due to lockdown?) so the next few weeks will be interesting.

My eldest’s school confirmed no one is to go in even with a mild cold which is going to play havoc with parents and work over winter. I now have a cold and am miserable and that’s with the additional hygiene. It’s scary how opportunistic these bugs are.

@NotAKaren

I hope the testing is ready for the numbers that will hit once schools return

This, will the labs have enough people and equipment to even begin to process all the tests in a timely fashion?

It’s going to be a nightmare.

My youngest is going to nursery for the first time having spent their entire life exposed to nothing, so this winter will be big after bug.

My eldest, we’ll be lucky if they tolerate one test, let alone once they’ve experienced it once.

I suspect we’ll all be at home A LOT and just going to have to juggle.

@NotAKaren

I hope the testing is ready for the numbers that will hit once schools return

Given they ran out of home tests yesterday, perhaps not.

@CaptainMerica I don't understand why you have an issue with that nursery, they followed the guidelines - child has a listed covid symptom (cough), gets a negative test and is allowed back. Sounds like the test was back the next day so not 3 days either. Or do you think children should just be allowed to come in with untested symptoms and their parents not isolate? The rules are if anyone in your household has symptoms (cough, high temperature, loss of taste/smell), the whole household isolate until a negative test.

[quote Flagsfiend]@CaptainMerica I don't understand why you have an issue with that nursery, they followed the guidelines - child has a listed covid symptom (cough), gets a negative test and is allowed back. Sounds like the test was back the next day so not 3 days either. Or do you think children should just be allowed to come in with untested symptoms and their parents not isolate? The rules are if anyone in your household has symptoms (cough, high temperature, loss of taste/smell), the whole household isolate until a negative test.[/quote]
My issue is that they are happy to let a child back with a cough - not even a lingering cough, but within the first few days of symptoms.

That child then goes back, passes it on to X other children and then X sets of parents, siblings, etc, then have to isolate for the same length of time while they all get tested. And none of them actually have covid, but that could be a lot of lost work days there, and a lot of children getting tested needlessly.

It would have been far better for the PP to stay home an extra couple of days, and save sharing the hassle around. If they hadn't allowed children in with cold symptoms, the PP's child probably wouldn't have caught it in the first place.

My nursery is asking parents to speak to them before turning up with any cold symptoms, and I hope they would advise staying at home a bit longer in that scenario. We will be testing and isolating constantly otherwise.

I agree with @CaptainMerica, it is shortsighted to allow non-covid symptoms to spread, causing more disruption.

Ok sorry I misunderstood, I thought you were saying that children shouldn't need to test for a cough. I agree that it would be better to be off longer if ill to prevent spread, not sure how enforceable that is though. I've had a cough for months (no idea if it was covid to start with as no testing then), but clearly can't have months off with just a cough.

@Flagsfiend

Ok sorry I misunderstood, I thought you were saying that children shouldn't need to test for a cough. I agree that it would be better to be off longer if ill to prevent spread, not sure how enforceable that is though. I've had a cough for months (no idea if it was covid to start with as no testing then), but clearly can't have months off with just a cough.

Yeah, it is hard to know where to draw the line. DC had a cough all last winter too.

If they don't take tough action to stop colds and flu spreading this winter though, testing capacity is not going to keep up with demand, and track and trace is going to fall apart.

@CaptainMerica I disagree, as suspect parents would overall need more time off work if they have to keep children at home with mild lingering cold symptoms (ie. a cough) following a negative test, than if they have to isolate semi-regularly for a couple of days while waiting for a negative test. Not to say both scenarios aren’t a total ball ache. Roll on 90 minute tests!

[quote juliainthedeepwater]@CaptainMerica I disagree, as suspect parents would overall need more time off work if they have to keep children at home with mild lingering cold symptoms (ie. a cough) following a negative test, than if they have to isolate semi-regularly for a couple of days while waiting for a negative test. Not to say both scenarios aren’t a total ball ache. Roll on 90 minute tests![/quote]
I think when their child has had one test, and becomes very resistant to second/third/fourth, parents may be less keen on tests.

The tests themselves will be dreadful to administer for many children.

The Coronavirus test result email/text correspondence states that as long as there is no temperature, the person who has taken the test can return to work/school/nursery/other as long as they feel fit and well. We've not had to test DS twice, myself and DP have also been tested once and all came back negative. On each occasion DP returned to work and DS to nursery (I'm working from home and didn't feel too unwell to work) the next day. We also supplied all email correspondence to the relevant workplace or nursery for their records.

Just to add, in our situation, nursery reported that DS only coughed once on each occasion that he returned to nursery post-test. If his cough had been constant I would have kept him at home as I usually would if he had a nasty cough as I feel it is unfair to other parents/children and the nursery team to have a constant stream of unwell children - definitely agree with @CaptainMerica on this one!

[quote juliainthedeepwater]@CaptainMerica I disagree, as suspect parents would overall need more time off work if they have to keep children at home with mild lingering cold symptoms (ie. a cough) following a negative test, than if they have to isolate semi-regularly for a couple of days while waiting for a negative test. Not to say both scenarios aren’t a total ball ache. Roll on 90 minute tests![/quote]
The thing is if absolutely everyone kept their kids off at the first sign of a cold, then there would be a much smaller chance of catching anything in the first place.

In reality, people probably won't. It relies on everyone acting in the group best interest, but when one person breaks that everyone else will too, and you are probably right, that the people who keep their kids home longer will gain no benefit from it because other people won't.

Personally, I just really don't want to have to stick a swab up my little toddlers tiny nose any more than is necessary. But I do want to keep my job too.

I could see nurseries and schools being told to toughen up their policies when the pressure on test capacity rises.

This is going to cause much chaos over the coming months!

If you have a cold/cough, the cough symptom can last up to 4 weeks or more, even when all the other symptoms have resolved within few/several days.

Not sure what the answer is going to be for this one.

I’m a teacher and my first day back is tomorrow but both kids coughing today. The whole thing is an absolute nightmare.
Our nursery guidance says they are excluded with ‘and cold related symptoms’ which is insane and means myself and DH will barely work this winter with two preschoolers.

@Postmanbear

I’m a teacher and my first day back is tomorrow but both kids coughing today. The whole thing is an absolute nightmare. Our nursery guidance says they are excluded with ‘and cold related symptoms’ which is insane and means myself and DH will barely work this winter with two preschoolers.

Please don't go back without the coughers getting tested!

Fingers crossed it is a non-covid cough!

It is a nightmare, but we all have to be super boring and super rule-abiding.

[quote Stinkywizzleteets]@NotAKaren there has been n increase in testing in Scotland but not a massive amount. The kids are starting to pick up colds (who said the bugs disappeared due to lockdown?) so the next few weeks will be interesting.

My eldest’s school confirmed no one is to go in even with a mild cold which is going to play havoc with parents and work over winter. I now have a cold and am miserable and that’s with the additional hygiene. It’s scary how opportunistic these bugs are.[/quote]
Can I ask have you seen figures that let you know testing in Scotland has not increased by a massive amount? We had kids retested on Friday after an unclear result, at a mobile site, and only got neg result this morning. Then trying to get tests for DH and I yesterday was impossible, getting nearest test centre to Glasgow was in NOrthern Ireland. Home tests all used up. Exceptional demand mentioned in media, so intrigued if you’ve seen some actual figures?

It's not a normal cough though, is it. It is a new persistent or continuous cough, which is coughing a lot for more than an hour. A 'normal' cough that follows a cold doesn't count, right? At least, the sort sort of coughs that we get after colds could not be described as continuous!

People are really going to have to start keeping unwell kids at home; it wouldn't surprise me if policies change as nurseries and schools start to see the impact of letting "it's just a little cough" back in with knock-on staff, child and parent absences and testing. When times were normal and we'd see childminder kids at playgroups it was sad to see the same kids with endless snotty nose and coughs, but it was always the same kids. Maybe some have an inherent illness, but in the majority of cases the reason some little children are ill "all winter" is because they aren't given any time to recover from each infection, so they're more susceptible to the next one, and the next, and the next, instead of brushing them off. The toddlers who are kept home for each illness get better in a couple of days and no more than a slightly snotty nose for most of them at that.