The government wants YOU to volunteer as a school covid tester

[noelgiraffe]

The govt have proudly announced that there will be mass testing in secondary schools, colleges and special schools from January.

What the headlines don’t quite convey is that schools will be expected to set up and man their own testing centres and that this make-shift testing of close contacts of positives will replace close contacts having to isolate. The tests pick up about 50% of positive cases so I’m sure this will be fine.

Covidy kids will be getting the bus to school to queue up and be tested by people who have watched a video and a couple of online worksheets.

Even better, they want those people to be YOU!

“The document says that reasonable costs for additional workforce will be reimbursed.

It adds that a school may want to hire temporary staff, such as agency and contract workers, or draw on volunteers such as parents, retired teachers, Red Cross, St John Ambulance and community organisations.”

If you can’t help in person, perhaps you can support by talking positively about this effort on social media and parenting forums?

“Under a section labelled “social media guidance”, the document reads that “consistent, accurate and positive communication about testing activity is essential”.

They want to see “proactive public social media using agreed materials” and schools are encouraged to “monitor your existing social media channels, parents forums etc. and provide any feedback”.”

Come on folks, do your bit!

schoolsweek.co.uk/7-staff-roles-2-hour-training-and-dhsc-sign-off-on-press-schools-given-mass-testing-instructions/

I really would volunteer for anything at school if it would help the current situation. But I genuinely don't believe this strategy will help, I am certain it is putting pupils, staff and families at increased risk. (For all the reasons outlined above). I also believe with this strategy I would be putting myself at much increased risk and I'm simply not that altruistic - I may of course feel differently if I wasn't CEV.

But if it was a good strategy I would certainly volunteer. Being realistic though, I would be a fucking useless volunteer for a number of reasons. It would be unfair on the school and the pupils.

Do people genuinely think teachers should be sacrificing teaching time or parents should be volunteering - to go to schools and test children who should be self isolating as they are high risk of being positive (who have also travelled to the school and mixed with the public) testing them in close contact, with unreliable tests, as there are no other options?

With our much heralded world beating track and trace system? That this is THE BEST that the government can come up with after handing out billions of money to private companies without tenders etc?

I guess when people develop symptoms of coronavirus or have been informed they are a close contact, they would be happy to get on a bus or train and travel to a school or college staffed with volunteers from the public to carry out tests with equipment known to be unreliable and inaccurate?

Actually just do that on your way to work and then carry on to work if it's negative, no worries. No need for anyone to self isolate now as we have this wonderful strategy.

December 2020, nearly a year into this and this is the best we can do. It's fucking shameful and the government attempts to present it as a good thing, is sickening.

Putting the lack of staff hours or difficulty with using volunteers a side. Oh and the accuracy of test issues.

People are obviously saying kids need to isolate if been in close contact rather than just being given a test at school.

But what I am trying to work out if you are saying the rest of the maybe 100 to 200 year group bubble now need to isolate. Best case scenario that is or would you be ok with them having test at school? If test were run properly etc

Sorry if I am being a bit thick but lack of sleep last night

The universities did routine diagnostic testing combined with self-isolation for positive cases or those who had been in close contact. As there was routine testing, the close contacts will have been tested.

This was also combined with online learning, so much reduced opportunity for transmission.

This strategy was effective in the autumn at identifying asymptomatic positives and reducing transmission.

What they are suggesting for schools is screening rather than diagnostic testing instead of isolating close contacts. Isolating close contacts hasn't worked, as PHE's definition of 'close contact' is different to the rest of the populations and the close contacts haven't been able to access tests unless symptomatic.

Not isolating close contacts and using a screening test that is only 50% accurate is clearly even more bonkers than what's been happening in the autumn term.

Who knew that would even be possible?

Truelymadly - to start with it was "send whole bubble home". Then that became "just send home close contacts"

What they want to do now is not send anyone home, but test the close contacts every day (with the 50% reliable coin-flip tests).

Your idea is a good one though - sending close contacts home to isolate and then coin-flip testing the rest of the year group would actually be an improvement on what is happening at the moment.

@EndoplasmicReticulum

Truelymadly - to start with it was "send whole bubble home". Then that became "just send home close contacts"

What they want to do now is not send anyone home, but test the close contacts every day (with the 50% reliable coin-flip tests).

Your idea is a good one though - sending close contacts home to isolate and then coin-flip testing the rest of the year group would actually be an improvement on what is happening at the moment.

Thanks people.

Not sure it is my idea. More I was wondering if that was what people would find acceptable.

As a parent I think it is how I would prefer it worked and makes sense I believe.

Especially with test that have such low success.

Now the pesky job of finding a answer to who supervises the tests because teenagers that are not sen can manage that or get sent home until parents get them tested or isolate!

@Truelymadlydeeplysomeonesmum

Putting the lack of staff hours or difficulty with using volunteers a side. Oh and the accuracy of test issues.

People are obviously saying kids need to isolate if been in close contact rather than just being given a test at school.

But what I am trying to work out if you are saying the rest of the maybe 100 to 200 year group bubble now need to isolate. Best case scenario that is or would you be ok with them having test at school? If test were run properly etc

Sorry if I am being a bit thick but lack of sleep last night

I don’t really understand your question.

At the moment, once a positive person is identified, all their close contacts are sent home to self isolate, whilst the rest of the class/year/school remain at school as normal.

The government’s new plan is suggesting the positive case goes home and all close contacts of them continue to pitch up each day to be tested altogether at school.

The rest of the class/bubble/year group wouldn’t be isolating in either scenario.

I believe the government’s new idea is much much worse than what is currently in place.

[quote Whyarewehardofthinking]@3littlewords the low accuracy would be better than nothing if this was being used for mass testing as it would at least pick up some asymptomatic cases.

This is actually being used to diagnose close contacts (where you want the highest possible accuracy) instead of having them isolate. So we are removing the safety of having close contacts isolate and replacing it with a diagnosis from a test that is not for diagnostics and only 50% accurate.

It is madness.[/quote]
I agree mass testing would be better but probably logistically not feasible, I mean you only need to see comments in this thread about who's going to administer the tests just for the select few close contacts to see that consistent mass testing impossible. There's not enough volunteers, HCP, army, teachers or other school support staff to do it whilst keeping everyone happy. Teachers and school support staff don't want to do it, understandably, because they don't want to be in very close contact with hundreds of kids and quite frankly they've got enough to do already . Parents don't want " Kevin's mum" doing it incase Kevin's mum touches the brain of their PFB. Using nurses or other HCP who are already stretched would taking them away from where they are needed more. There's not enough army to be spread all across the country at the same time, and teenagers have been somehow deemed incapable of testing themselves .

It pisses me off that this is being headlined as ‘mass testing’ to keep schools open, when it should be pegged as ‘self isolation for school staff and pupils dropped’.

I think it’s actually a really dangerous road to go down.

I agree mass testing would be better but probably logistically not feasible, I mean you only need to see comments in this thread about who's going to administer the tests just for the select few close contacts to see that consistent mass testing impossible.

Only if you say that it has to be done on site at school by whoever has a spare hour and put literally as little money into it as possible.

What about those spit tests someone was talking about where you can test loads of kids in one go?

Let's give an example showing the 3 things people are discussing. In my example I'm going to use y9 from my school, there are about 300 students in the year split into 11 teaching groups - they stay in these classes for all lessons but mix with the wider year group in social spaces at break and lunch. They share toilet facilities and space on buses with their year group.

Current scenario: y9 student tests positive, close contacts are sent home to isolate, these are determined by the seating plan and who the student stays they spent social times with - usually around 15 students are asked to isolate.

Government scenario: these 15 close contacts wouldn't isolate, instead they would attend school and be tested each day using a test that only picks up 50% of positives. If positive they get sent home and their close contacts commence testing.

Mass testing scenario that I would like: 15 close contacts sent home, others in class (or better still, year group) tested to pick up other cases allowing better control of spread.

@FiggyPuddingified

Let's give an example showing the 3 things people are discussing. In my example I'm going to use y9 from my school, there are about 300 students in the year split into 11 teaching groups - they stay in these classes for all lessons but mix with the wider year group in social spaces at break and lunch. They share toilet facilities and space on buses with their year group.

Current scenario: y9 student tests positive, close contacts are sent home to isolate, these are determined by the seating plan and who the student stays they spent social times with - usually around 15 students are asked to isolate.

Government scenario: these 15 close contacts wouldn't isolate, instead they would attend school and be tested each day using a test that only picks up 50% of positives. If positive they get sent home and their close contacts commence testing.

Mass testing scenario that I would like: 15 close contacts sent home, others in class (or better still, year group) tested to pick up other cases allowing better control of spread.

This x 1000.

Why haven’t the unions picked this up?

Achristmaspudsskidu
Yes I get what the government are saying. I was asking what people think is a better approach. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

The current situation is inadequate.

The idea is to take the current inadequate situation and make it worse in terms of controlling the spread among pupils.

The only positive idea is the weekly testing of teachers.

@Truelymadlydeeplysomeonesmum

Achristmaspudsskidu Yes I get what the government are saying. I was asking what people think is a better approach. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

No, I’m sorry for not understanding!

The above poster’s scenario is what I would like to see. This one...

Mass testing scenario that I would like: 15 close contacts sent home, others in class (or better still, year group) tested to pick up other cases allowing better control of spread

In fact, I remain utterly gob smacked that this isn’t the plan and someone has actually sat and thought about what to do for longer than 10 seconds and decided NOT to do this.

It depends on if they want to actually control the spread among kids, Appu or not.

Apparently not.

Yes definitely a better model of how student tests should run.

Looking local mobile testing units would work best. Can't be enough of them to work though or staff to administer

Test kits could be given to a year group if they need to test and then carried out at home. However I know parents that would make sure the test was negative. Darling can't miss to much school after all.

@FiggyPuddingified

Let's give an example showing the 3 things people are discussing. In my example I'm going to use y9 from my school, there are about 300 students in the year split into 11 teaching groups - they stay in these classes for all lessons but mix with the wider year group in social spaces at break and lunch. They share toilet facilities and space on buses with their year group.

Current scenario: y9 student tests positive, close contacts are sent home to isolate, these are determined by the seating plan and who the student stays they spent social times with - usually around 15 students are asked to isolate.

Government scenario: these 15 close contacts wouldn't isolate, instead they would attend school and be tested each day using a test that only picks up 50% of positives. If positive they get sent home and their close contacts commence testing.

Mass testing scenario that I would like: 15 close contacts sent home, others in class (or better still, year group) tested to pick up other cases allowing better control of spread.

This would be great.

How does this affect primary school children? Will their whole bubble or close contacts still be required to isolate for the 10 days?

Dear god the circus continues.

In order to help schools prepare for launching this onsite testing in January, the DfE have announced a live event for asking questions. This Friday. The day schools break up.

They have no fucking regard for the workload they are putting on headteachers here at all.

I thought they'd never trump the time they released a teacher workload reduction toolkit to work through at the start of the summer holidays.

Or the schools opening guidance the Friday before schools opened.

But this, this is a mammoth task.

We were discussing today where on earth on our school site we could do this. No idea.

I think a good idea to test teachers weekly. Not sure the DfE have thought that one through though. Next plan - positive teachers still to come and teach because 2m?

I think the spit testing could work. Not sure it's going to be much easier to collect (a sensible amount of) spit from year 9 compared to shoving a swab up their nostrils but it's probably a bit easier.
Again - not as a replacement for isolation but as an improvement.

If you're going to mass test, first week back would seem like a good time. Logistically difficult, obviously, and the first week back might need to be started a bit later / staggered for different year groups, but if you could catch those who have caught it at the Christmas Mingle before they get back into the classroom that would have to be a good thing.

@MrsMiaWallis

I'm sure you are right to be annoyed with the government's handling of this but the sarcastic criticism of volunteers is a bit pathetic. I'd volunteer - I've had covid and I've done the tests on my dds quite happily.

I just don't consider this an acceptable level of experience to allow someone to test my children.

This is the problem - this is a medical procedure, not reshelving some books in the school library.

I am sure some well-meaning people will volunteer but I don't want them carrying out medical procedures on my children.

I'd potentially be fine with a volunteer for myself, because I'm an adult. But not for my children who need to retain their current lack of fear in health procedures. One rubbish volunteer could really mess that up.

@Theotherrudolph

Me too. Anything to help my children’s education to not be interrupted again.

Secondary school kids can swab their own noses. The tester person has to apply some drops of solution on the widget and wait 30 mins then count how many lines there are., like a pregnancy test.

I taught 18yos to man a lateral flow testing centre and supervised them and they managed fine so I think Kevin's mum will likely cope.

@noelgiraffe

One thing that isn't clear - it's 7 days of daily testing. Schools are only open 5 days a week, who will be doing the testing the other 2 days?

Still catching up so this may have been said - I assume they won't test over weekends hence it being seven days when isolation is currently ten. Add in the weekend of not testing and you get your 9 days near enough.

Whether kids would be expected to isolate over the weekend that falls in the 10 day period I don't know.