School Covid tests - what should I do?

[Lindy2]

I need some opinions please because I really can't decide what's the right thing to do.

Unfortunately, we had Covid in January. DH caught it at work and 7 days later I also tested positive. It was very grim but we have mostly recovered now.

Our 2 DDs tested negative. They were tested a couple of times but the results came back negative. However, I'm absolutely certain they both had Covid at the same time as us but with different symptoms. They both had a day of vomiting and both developed purple blisters on their toes. They exactly match the pictures of Covid toes that I've Googled. (picture attached to show the how strange and distinct Covid toes are). Our eldest DD had about 6 of these purple blisters on her toes and our youngest just a couple.

DD12 is going back to Secondary school and obviously the school is doing lateral flow tests. I'm absolutely fine with this but if you've had Covid you aren't supposed to be tested for 90 days as you may get a false positive.

Should she be tested or not? She didn't get a positive test at the time but almost certainly had Covid so the school test could give a false positive. We'd all have to isolate again and the kids would miss more school for no reason which wouldn't be good.

Should I opt her out to begin with but do tests from May when 90 days has passed?

I fully agree with the tests and think as many children as possible should have them but we're in a bit of an unusual situation really. I wish we'd tested them 1 more time as we might have got a positive result then but we weren't really well enough to sort it out at the time.

I just don't know how to approach this! Advice and opinions would be welcome.

It's an interesting question for any child. There must be many who have had covid in the last 3 months.
I suspect that if they tested negative at the time with a pcr test they will almost certainly test negative with the less sensitive lft.

The first thing I'd do is contact school and explain the situation, but honestly I think the answer will be that if she's going in she'll have to be tested.

It does sound very like your kids have had it but you can't be sure and the school won't be willing to take that risk.

I assume we're in the same boat re not sending them in being classed as unauthorised absence as it was from September?

I had the same issue when my two were due to return in January before the lockdown. I'm not sure my DD had it when we did, but about ten days before DH and I got it our son had two days of diarrhoea, which I have since learnt can be a symptom. In fact FIL had it too and tested positive.
I was going to not allow them to have the test in January until the 90 days were up, but I will let them now that we are past that window. In fact, I have only started my LFT testing at work now that I am past 90 days.

Does the 90 days rule apply to the lateral flow tests, or just the PCR ones?

luckynumber It's for both types of test.

The lateral flow tests are less sensitive than the PCRs but you can still get a false positive if the swab picks up any residual, dormant virus left in your system.

Even if they did have it, they surely won’t test positive now, after a couple of months?

That's the whole point! They can test positive for up to 90 days after the first positive due to tests picking up non contagious fragments of the virus from the first infection

Do you have any sites near you that do asymptomatic testing and you could test first before going to school

Let us know what school want to do, OP. My guess is that they will have your DD opt out for a few more weeks.

dementedpixie

I think we do have asymptomatic testing sites nearby but if we go to one and get a false positive test result I'm sure it will automatically trigger the whole track and trace, self isolation situation again. I'd really rather avoid that.

At DH's workplace they do asymptomatic testing 3 times a week now but won't test anyone who's still within 90 days of a positive result.

I've emailed the school and asked to speak to someone about our situation.

The testing is voluntary so I'm inclined to opt out until we get to the 90 days. I wouldn't opt out in any other circumstance but I think it makes sense in this particular circumstance. If she did get a false positive not only would we have to isolate again but potentially other children in her bubble and her teachers would also have to isolate as close contacts. It could cause a lot of unnecessary worry.

If your dc were not at school at the time you think they had it then school won't have any knowledge about them testing or not testing positive?

Surely just tell them they had covid in Jan (as you are certain they did) and that you therefore won't consent to testing until after 90 days as per government advice. End of issue?

I've spoken to the school today and explained the situation. They are going to look into what should be done in this situation but I think opting out until the 90 days is done is looking most likely.

Neither DD was in school in January January although I did email the school in January to let them know DH had tested positive and we were all in isolation. They'd asked parents to keep them informed of any positive cases in households.

Thanks for update

I asked a clinician at work and they said lateral flow would only pick up someone who was symptomatic so probably ok to take within 90 days.

rose69 Thank you. That's interesting to know. We might be ok with testing then.

Ahere is the up to date link about not testing for 90 days. Ive to get teated twice a week but had covid over christmas.

www.google.com/amp/s/schoolsweek.co.uk/covid-testing-in-schools-dfe-aligns-advice-with-nhs-following-confusion/amp/

@rose69

I asked a clinician at work and they said lateral flow would only pick up someone who was symptomatic so probably ok to take within 90 days.

That’s not correct.

The very reason we are using lateral flow tests is to try and pick up asymptomatic cases before they spread it too much.
I have to do them twice a week for work and we are told if we get a positive we need to get it confirmed with a PCR test and then refrain from the lateral flow tests for 90 days.
Symptoms or no symptoms.

If I were you, OP, I would try and get a lateral flow done now and then make the decision on whether to withdraw consent for the school tests for the 90 days or now, based on the result you get

The very reason we are using lateral flow tests is to try and pick up asymptomatic cases before they spread it too much.

The lateral flow tests being used are designed to be used on symptomatic cases though. They can pick up asymptomatic cases but they aren't designed differently to do that and are less reliable at picking these up than symptomatic cases.

I doubt this will be an issue. Tests can in some cases pick up an old infection, but I don't think it's particularly common. Other countries routinely test 10-14 days after the first positive test to check whether you are still infectious or not. I'd imagine the chances are even lower if they didn't test positive when you thought they had it.

@Fiddlersgreen is correct LFD's definitely do pickup asymptotic cases! Hopefully your school will get DfE advice on your situation and help you, as you say testing is voluntary so your kids won't be refused entry to school without testing, good luck OP!

Surely if they tested negative multiple times its really unlikely they had covid? Both of them as well

I think the chances that multiple pcr tests did not pick up the virus, but a lateral flow will pick up some fragments 2 months later is very low tbh. Given you need a pcr following a positive lateral flow as well and thats also got to pick up latent virus that it didn't 2 months ago, seems a really unlikely scenario