Is school advice to isolate legal like Track & Trace is?

[Comefromaway]

Dd had an email from college telling her to isolate due to contact with a positive case.

The notification came yesterday but the contact was over a week previous.(We’ve been told the last day of contact) It’s pretty obvious who it is as the class only had 6 in it plus a teacher and one other class has also been told to isolate (they had the same teacher later in the day.) The teacher was absent the following day & no students were absent for the whole rest of the week. The teacher was coughing in the class.

The thing is, dd was the only person to wear a face mask throughout the entire class. The teacher also went around to everyone correcting them but when they approached dd she moved away and they took the hint. They were about a metre away for less than 30 seconds.

She’s isolating (It’s half term this week) but we have a much looked forward to event 48 hours before her isolation is due to end. She’s currently staying in her bedroom and wearing a mask if she comes downstairs to get a drink.

I sort of know what the answer is and she will do the right thing and we will go without her but it’s so frustrating.

My concern would be (and as a teacher) its a droplet virus so is in the air regardless and if you are in a room for an hour with someone who has it there's a decent chance you could have it as well. Can hugely see the frustration and everything though!

Interesting to read this as at our college you’re just advised that you’ve come into contact with someone Covid positive and no longer told to self isolate.

my son was in this situation. we got him tested (without symptoms) he came back negative. it gave us peace of mind, but yes he has to still isolate.

Can you go to the event and DD stay home?

A face mask doesn’t protect you so that is irrelevant. She needs to do the full isolation. Don’t spread it at an event!

@PaperMonster

Interesting to read this as at our college you’re just advised that you’ve come into contact with someone Covid positive and no longer told to self isolate.

Is that not against guidelines?

Can you get a test?

Your daughter shouldn't leave the house until isolation is over but as you're asking if its a legal requirement I'm assuming you're happy to for her to go anyway.
Was it just an informal message from the college? We had a letter from the school on behalf of public health England when my sons class had to isolate, probably because T&T ringing round 2 classes of students is time consuming so they go through the school. I took the letter as a legal requirement but if you've not had that then I don't see how a message from a college could be legally binding.
As for your daughter wearing a mask at college it wouldn't have lowered her risk, they are more to protect others from our droplets rather than protect us from getting ill.

@OverTheRainbow88

Can you go to the event and DD stay home?

I already said that is what we will do but it's gutting for her as it's the re-arrangement of something that was originally cancelled in March and it's something she and her brother rather than us, wanted to do.

She had a hospital appointment that she attended before being asked to isolate regarding forthcoming minor surgery and she has tested negative but we know that means nothing. The negative test was carried out 7 days after her contact with the person.

The email from college signed by the principal says you must stay at home and follow the directions in an attached letter. The attached letter says we recommend you stay at home and isolate and it links the the PHE staying at home guidance (except it links to the page about households with someone with symptoms or a positive test, not to the page about other contacts)

I know that wearing a mask protects others more but also there is a lot of research that shows that combined with keeping a 2 metre distance it vastly reduces the risk for the wearer too.

The mask she wears is one with a filter as she finds those more comfortable to do practical activities in.

Well I don't know whether masks protect against prolonged exposure but I have breathed hard against my mask with my hand directly behind it and don't feel anything on my hand. So a teacher breathing normally some distance away is unlikely to manage to project their germs to the OP's dd's daughter though her mask. Not impossible, but not likely.

We couldn't find the answer to this question when we looked. There is some info on DoE website which suggests it isn't a legal requirement but it's not clear. We decided to treat it as a legal requirement just in case he was asymmptomatic