Can my child go to school with a sniffly nose?

[Babyfairy0923]

We haven’t had any guidelines from school?
Well in himself, no temperature, no cough but a sniffly nose & occasional sneezing.
I’m guessing we can’t keep them home for every cold they get if it’s without the Covid symptoms?

[TheKeatingFive]

And is it stupid to want to stop the spread of Covid 19 by isolating / testing if you have a widely acknowledged symptom?

Well, think through how that works in a school situation.

You take child out. But child doesn’t qualify for testing, because they don’t meet the criteria. Then what? They sit at home for a fortnight because of a sniffle?

The criteria is there for a reason. Because we have to ensure availability for those most likely to have the virus, therefore most likely to need a test.

[rainbowunicorn]

Nobody is saying that sore throat can't be a symptom but it is certainly not one of the most common. It actually states on the WHO list that sore throat is one of the less common symtoms. If you were going to test for every single one of the less common symptoms then we all may as well stay indoors for ever more.
I had a headache today, my friend's 3 year old has conjunctivitis at the minute and a member of my staff was off with an upset stomach today, by your easoning we should all have trooped off to be tested. Don't be ridiculous. The country would grind to a halt in less than a week.
Less common symptoms: as shown on the WHO website

aches and pains.
sore throat.
diarrhoea.
conjunctivitis.
headache.
loss of taste or smell.
a rash on skin, or discolouration of fingers or toes.

[SimonJT]

@Bringonspring

I personally wouldn’t. Frankly Covid has made me re think my whole approach to illness. This whole acceptance that it’s fine to send a child to school with a cold and pass it on vs the child not going to school etc

If I kept my son off school everytime he had a cold I would be unemployed.

[Bringonspring]

SimonJT maybe if everyone didn’t send the children in when they had a cold they wouldn’t get as many colds. Chicken and an egg

[Augustbreeze]

I think the WHO's terminology "less common" does not mean "hardly occurs at all", but just a second tier or still common symptoms.

Other countries (France, US) have had this longer list of symptoms as "officially recognised reasons to get a test" from the beginning.

See this list from the US Centres for Disease Control:

"People with these symptoms may have COVID-19:

• Fever or chills
• Cough
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Fatigue
• Muscle or body aches
• Headache
• New loss of taste or smell
• Sore throat
• Congestion or runny nose
• Nausea or vomiting
• Diarrhea"

[ManiPediNow]

Very different here (Singapore). Anyone with respiratory symptoms is given a 5 day legally enforced ($10,000 fine) medical certificate where you cannot leave your house without a negative swab test.

[Augustbreeze]

That's interesting @ManiPediNow, and how are respiratory problems defined, is it only breathing difficulties or much more than that?

[qwertypie]

Call the school. That's what I did before we received national guidance (in Scotland) on this. They were perfectly happy to have my sniffly kid attend - he had none of the top 3 covid symptoms.

[Babyfairy0923]

We called the school & they said as long as he doesn’t have the 3 main symptoms they were happy to have him at school.

[Blerg]

My daughter has a mild cold - sniffle and slight sore throat. I checked the guidance today from the school and the government. School has said don’t send them with any form of illness, but I needed to call and check what this meant for siblings. Her brother was fine to go.

I feel like a flow chart would be helpful!

My heart sinks slightly as we have been so briefly (1.5 days).

[ManiPediNow]

@Augustbreeze any cold-type symptoms, eg. Cough, runny nose, sore throat, fever.