Can kids in households with Covid still go to school?

[fastwigglylines]

When schools were last open, did you realise DC in households with Covid could still go to school without the school knowing?

Will this still be the case come 8th March, does anyone know?

I realised this before Christmas, when the mother of a child in DS's class tested positive for covid. DS's friend was kept home for two days then sent back to school to mix with all the other DC.

I asked the school what happens if a parent gets covid and they said that Track and Trace only gets in contact with direct contacts of the person with Covid, so if a child hadn't had a positive test, then they won't be informed.

At the time, you could only ask for a test if you had symptoms. The child had no symptoms and parents not prepared to lie to get one. So they sent the child into school, and did not inform the school there was covid at home.

School said nothing they could do as they had not been informed a child had covid. But surely he could have just been symptomless and still have it!

Is this how it works elsewhere? Does Track and Trace not advise to keep DC home if parents have it? Why don't they tell the schools if there's a child in a house with covid? Can we get tests without having to have symptoms now?

I am in a higher risk group (but haven't yet been called for a vaccine).

I'm desperate for the DC to get back to normality but I feel like I'm being asked to risk my life to facilitate this.

I agree it’s awful , it should be illegal not to give track and trace the details of all household members and their schools and places of work.
If you are high risk you should be able to book online now with an invite have you tried? @fastwigglylines

Holy fcuk. That's awful. It's clearly against the rules (all members of the household where a positive test has been received should isolate), but people are so stupid or desperate that they will try it.

So, is this what Track and Trace are supposed to do, then? Are the parents supposed to give all details of household members and then track and trace tell the schools?

The school have me the impression that unless the child had tested positive, they wouldn't be informed. I was very surprised at this. Has the school got it wrong?

There will always be some people who are inconsiderate twats. The rules are clear that if someone in the household has symptoms or a positive result everyone in the household should isolate.

The vast majority will follow those rules but not everyone, that will be the same for sending kids to school, or going on a leisure walk round B&M or any other possible interaction.

And no test and trace are not supposed to contact the school, they are only supposed to contact people/places where the positive person has been in contact with other people. If the kids are not positive then the school will not be told.

As individuals we are supposed to take personal responsibility for following the rules.

This has happened numerous times. In fact I think it is the main entrance of Covid in schools. We have had families you would never dream would do something so selfish send their children in when a parent has symptoms and is waiting test results then opps quickly pick child up from school. Then opps child has tested positive, bubble bursts, multiple positives. There is no track and trace in schools. But hey "Schools are safe".

I know there will be people who disregard the rules, my concern was more at the school's lack of concern!

I would hope they would want to encourage parents to tell the school if there's covid at home, not shrug and say, effectively, oh well if T&T haven't told is, it's beyond our responsibility.

It looks like it's DS's school.who have this wrong?Think I need to email them.

The school is correct, but they aren't specifically told because what the parents did was illegal, and track and trace will have made that very clear to them. The whole household isolates, there's no exception for school. So no, they don't tell the school any more than they tell your local supermarket to not let you in - but it isn't 'allowed' to send a child from a household with Covid into either place.

Clearly, if a household has symptoms, everyone is expected to fully isolate. So children shouldn't be going to school.

However this does happen, and is part of the reason schools spread Covid so badly.

Because school can't know without being told when an individual child ought to be at home following a positive parental test, but parents think they have a right to send them regardless.

I'm sure it will stay the same when they return. Nothing (masks, distancing, ventilation....) has been put in place in schools apart from handwashing and wiping surfaces. For an airborne virus.

@HalfShrunkMoreToGo

And no test and trace are not supposed to contact the school, they are only supposed to contact people/places where the positive person has been in contact with other people. If the kids are not positive then the school will not be told.

As individuals we are supposed to take personal responsibility for following the rules.

Oh, I take it back, it's not the school, it's the system!

I can see the logic in that if you don't live together. But surely if a child lives in a household with Covid every night, they should isolate, not go out into the community everyday and then home to expose themselves to covid every day?!

OK, now I'm confused!

I assumed that T&T would tell a whole family to isolate, but the school didn't seem to think so and a mix of opinions here.

Can anyone confirm for sure if the whole family is meant to isolate according to T&T?

Thanks

Schools can only go on the information they have and a lot of that relies on parents being honest. If they are told there is a family member positive at home then yes they should be following that up. As a teacher I would be very unhappy if management were not being vigilant over all information about positive cases.

@fastwigglylines there seems to be some confusion here.

Test and trace will have told the positive person that they and every member of their household must by law self isolate, every single member of the household MUST self isolate including children.

Test and trace will then ask for a list of everywhere that the positive person has been and every person they've been in contact with and will make contact with those people/places.

If test and trace are not told about the positive person going to school they will not contact school.

They will however tell the positive person that everyone in the house needs to stay home so the positive person SHOULD contact school and tell them the kids won't be in for 2 weeks.

This relies on the positive person following the law and being a decent person.

But surely if a child lives in a household with Covid every night, they should isolate, not go out into the community everyday and then home to expose themselves to covid every day?!

Yes, that's exactly what they should do, and are required by law to do. I think you're not quite understanding that the parents in your OP broke the law by sending the child in, no one at all told them it was ok or allowed. Your position seems to be akin to 'I heard that someone stole a car, how is this allowed?!' - it isn't 'allowed', someone antisocially broke the law and it wasn't possible to stop them.

If you have been in contact with a positive case, you isolate. So if there are two parents and two kids in the household, and mum had covid, everyone has to stay at home.
Track and trace won't tell the school.

Of course it happens. Between September and December we had a full year group shut down 6 times (as adviced by PHE/DFE) because of this or kids being sent in whilst waiting for a test result and subsequently being positive. It is stupid, reckless and should be criminal.

It made me angry seeing the disruption to my exam groups, at the risk to my vulnerable students and colleagues and now having my family infected due to a stupid, reckless parent I am incandescent whenever I think about it. My DP first came down with COVID a month ago, been in hospital twice and still needs me to bathe him. He has lost over 2st. He won't be returning to work (even remotely) for months; he is signed off for another month now still isn't awake for more than a few hours at a time. All because a parent sent their child in a whilst positive but waiting for the test result.

They were not interested in which child it was.

I think I might email them asking for them to clarify their policy and to send an email to parents reminding us to keep DC home if anyone in the house has covid.

When I tested positive all they needed was dc names and date of birth and an option was there for me to take responsibility of telling dc and dh I tested positive. They did ask for dh number and email and I took responsibility in telling him myself.

We had to isolate the entire household and support bubble (I hadn’t seen my support bubble in two weeks so I didn’t give their details). Dh tested positive first.

The law very clearly states that if a member of households tests positive all members of that household must isolate for 10 days. Track and trace will have reiterated this to parents who had the positive test. Track and trace cannot contact school unless parent spent time there however parents are under obligation to tell school that they tested positive and therefore child will be off for 10 days. Child is a known close contact. School then have a duty to ensure child doesn't come to school for 10 days

No T&T won't tell the whole family to isolate because the rules/guidelines/whatever for the last 12 months has been that the whole household has to isolate for one member with symptoms / positive test.

If people still don't get this after 12 bloody months, they never will do.

Yes the whole family should isolate but the school is correct that since it's not the child themselves it is nothing to do with them. They would not get notified.

The rules are very clear if someone in your household has symptoms the whole household isolates and person with symptoms gets a test, if the test is positive the whole household continues to isolate for 10 days (or whatever the rule is at the time, as it was 14 days). There is no exception for school children. They need to isolate as well. Assuming it’s not the child who has symptoms, school don’t need to do anything, only if the child goes on to get symptoms do school need to act and close down a bubble/isolate close contacts.

No wonder cases rocket when simple instructions can’t be followed. It should become a criminal offence to not follow the above.

This is not uncommon in my experience as a teacher. We only found a girl in my class and KW bubble’s dad, mum and older brother had tested positive and were isolating when the brother’s form tutor at local secondary called to inform us (knowing what the family are like for this kind of thing). She had been sworn to secrecy and threatened with having her tablet taken off her if she let slip.

@fastwigglylines

They were not interested in which child it was.

I think I might email them asking for them to clarify their policy and to send an email to parents reminding us to keep DC home if anyone in the house has covid.

If the parents can't follow the direct instructions of track and trace, they're not going to be able to follow the school's instructions either.

The school probably "weren't interested" because they're well aware that there is nothing they could do.

I mean they won't explicitly tell someone.