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Original poster

Back to school bugs

25 replies

Fyzz · 11/09/2020 12:05

Anyone who has ever had children at school will know that within a week or two of going back in September they are all full of cold. The same applies to teachers and students who start university.
The testing system is overwhelmed by people who are having to have their children tested because they have cold symptoms.
Clearly the majority of children having covid tests will just have a cold - did no-one see this coming?
I don't know what the answer is, it's important not to miss the very small minority who will actually have covid.

OP posts:
chubbyhotchoc · 11/09/2020 12:20

Yep all got colds here including me. I'm not testing though as I know it's a cold

yellowmaoampinball · 11/09/2020 12:22

The answer is to have more testing capacity. The symptoms of coronavirus are very similar to every other kind of winter bug. There's only one way to know which is which and that's testing.

kidsdrivingmemad · 11/09/2020 12:22

Same here. Son has a cold and yet again most people on Mumsnet saying you should keep him at home. No he's been off long enough and I know it's a cold.

yellowmaoampinball · 11/09/2020 12:24

If he has one of the main 3 symptoms you should keep him off and get him tested, yes. A cold is a type of coronavirus. Us mums have good instincts but even we can't tell the difference between a normal cold and covid.

palacegirl77 · 11/09/2020 12:25

Had four kids off in the last week and all come back with negative tests. Blatantly a cold going around the class. The extra strain on testing makes complete sense. Its negative test or stay off 14 days.

AriettyHomily · 11/09/2020 12:26

We've had two classes sent home within four days of being back in a single form entry primary. There are no tests available here postal or otherwise. It's a mess.

MillieEpple · 11/09/2020 12:26

How do you know though.

Spied · 11/09/2020 12:28

My DC both have colds.I've sent them in.
Talking to other parents at the school gates it's evident most of their classmates are the same.
Surely the whole class hasn't got Covid?
No one has been sent home.

SleepingStandingUp · 11/09/2020 12:28

Agree. Snotty 5yo brought it back and gave it the babies. Babies keep coughing on their snot that their brother has caused them. That isn't Corona virus, that's school snot and 9 month old inability to breathe properly. But I can't get a test for love note money which means two weeks of quarantine!

yellowmaoampinball · 11/09/2020 12:30

Colds are fine as long as they don't have temp, cough or loss of smell and taste. Any of those and the kids shouldn't be going in to school

JayDot500 · 11/09/2020 12:35

Anyone who has had a DC go through at least one year of school knows that this term is riddled with bugs. Yet, when I mentioned this to people, as someone who has a vulnerable DH, most focused on getting DC back to school, rather than worrying about testing capacity to support school reopenings.

So, some people saw this coming, but now we are here, there's nothing much we can do. We need better, more accessible testing. People who send their kids in with 'just a cough, I know it's a cold' will be the reason covid spreads through schools once it enters. Testing right now is too much of an inconvience, for justifiable reasons as well as the selfish ones. Parts of the country don't have to worry too much about Covid as rates are low right now, but only testing will confirm if rates remain low. We need more testing capacity Matt Hancock.

PinkSpring · 11/09/2020 13:12

DD managed two days at pre-school before coming down with a bloody cold! I kept her off one day as she was constantly sneezing, eyes streaming and nose running - and within a day and a half she was fine again, not before passing it on to the rest of us!!

I did at one point contemplate a test as she was quite lethargic but seeing as she didn't have a cough or a temperature I didn't bother and am glad I didn't as she recovered very fast.

I think a lot of people are booking tests for just cold symptoms, which is why they are so hard to get at the moment as back to school is going to have loads of children with colds!!

Keepdistance · 11/09/2020 13:23

If the drs dont know without testing then xyz from mn dont know without testing for a cough.

MayFayre · 11/09/2020 13:34

Our school has an ‘err on the side of caution‘ policy, so students must stay off with a cold or headache. Ds off today after only 4 days of school. School policy is get tested or self-isolate.

AwkwardAsAllGetout · 11/09/2020 13:40

My ds was sent home yesterday with tummy pains. Right as rain as soon as we got home but the receptionist told me that gastric symptoms were a sign of Covid in children. I couldn’t get a test at all, not a postal, walk in or drive through. I tried throughout the day. I’m now glad I’ve not wasted the resource as he’s fine, but it makes me not trust the numbers that are being reported at all. I’ve signed up to Covid messenger and in my district the numbers testing positive for the week are listed as 3. But I know from the local Facebook pages that noones been able to get a Covid test for at least a week. It’s a total farce

RedRumTheHorse · 11/09/2020 13:44

The Austrialian government has also done one which is a pdf -
www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2020/03/coronavirus-covid-19-identifying-the-symptoms.pdf

Time2change2 · 11/09/2020 13:47

Why are you keeping them off for a runny nose? It’s new continuous cough, high temp or loss of smell / taste. That’s it- not a bunged up nose or sneezing?

Stellaris22 · 11/09/2020 13:48

Mine has an expected cold (Year 3) and had a day off, simply because she got no sleep and her throat hurt.

I did look at getting a test, but it was impossible. School were fine with her going back and just said to keep an eye on my phone.

We are lucky to be in an area with very low cases though. If we kept her off with every cold, waiting for a test, she would never be in. I think most parents know their kids and can recognise colds.

Original poster
Fyzz · 11/09/2020 14:08

RedRumTheHorse That chart is very useful.

Lots of children do get fever with colds, one of mine always did as a child but runny nose or tummy ache not criteria for testing for covid. It seems schools are pushing parents to test when it's not appropriate.

OP posts:
Pugdoglife · 11/09/2020 14:28

The trouble is lots of winter bugs result in a cough. My DC has one, a dry continuous cough and lost their taste. Now common sense tells me it's a back to school bug, but there is no sneezing or runny nose and so I kept them off, got them tested, family isolated and now we've had a negative test result we can get back to normal.

Some of their friends however have had the same symptoms and have continued to go to school and spread it without getting tested and that's how covid will start spreading, people thinking that they know better than the official guidance.

Ernieshere · 11/09/2020 14:31

DC went back last Thurday, and had to have Monday off already, they had 1 day off sick last year.

justanotherneighinparadise · 11/09/2020 14:33

Yep same here. My child has already had a day off as has two of his friends and now I’m showing the first sign of a cold 🤦🏻‍♀️

Ernieshere · 11/09/2020 14:35

Im full of it, woke every half hour last night, with blowing my nose Hmm

Throat is red raw. I had Covid in March and am not 100% from that, with all sorts of issues. So this is bad bad timing.

Original poster
Fyzz · 11/09/2020 21:42

It would be interesting to know how many, if any, who have just a runny nose test positive.

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