If your child has a +ve lateral flow test in school they will have to isolate even if they later pass the full PCR test

[CatOnAHotTinHoof]

www.theguardian.com/education/2021/mar/06/school-covid-tests-pupils-in-england-very-likely-to-get-false-positives
I would have thought that if they pass the full PCR test that would supercede the lateral flow test and they could return to school.

It really depends on who the school talk to at public health. We've had this exact situation this week. One of our keyworker children tested positive on a lateral flow test, so we were facing the prospect of that bubble having to isolate while their peers return to school.

He subsequently "passed" a PCR test and whilst there was much discussion, it was eventually decided that they will attend school as usual.

ok, thanks, that would seem to be the sensible approach.

If they’re done at school, that counts as a testing centre and no PCR will be needed, any test done at home though will need a confirmatory PCR test to be a true ‘positive’

We’ve been doing lateral flow for months, I am a HCP in hospital. And if pos lateral flow and neg PCR, back to work.

@mightyducks all pos lateral flow must be followed up with a PCR to confirm.

@Mummyme87 the DfE says otherwise.. if an in-school LF test is positive no PCR required. They do tend to make up their own rules (until they are corrected by PHE!)

The problem is that in school tests are reported to NHS and they don't seem to have a system to "negate" the positive with a subsequent negative, even though the scientists agree the PCR is more reliable.. so T&T say you have to isolate (and your household) because their system says you are positive for 10 days after test even if there is then a negative..

They seem not to have thought ahead to this scenario - much like most DfE issued guidance really..

@mummyme87 no they don’t, not if done in any form of testing centre , only if done at home

I really don't know much about all this even though I'm an educated and engaged parent of a Y1 child. I read Facebook / Guardian daily but don't always check the BBC or TV news. If I'm missing key messages that could help protect the NHS then I have to doubt either the comms strategy or intentions of the govt. I also work with the public day in day out and to date have no access to asymptomatic testing.

Should I be trying to get tested along with husband and Y1 child or would it be more hassle than its worth?

@handmademitlove it was DHSC and PHE who scrapped the requirement for a confirmatory PCR test. Not DfE.

@MrsAukerman if no local access to asymptomatic test centre, you can order a pack from here

The rules changed a couple of weeks ago. School/asymptomatic test centre lateral flow positive result is classed as positive, and isolation for the household is required.
If you get a positive lateral flow test from a home test, it needs pcr confirmation. So lm in the crazy situation where the 100 samples I tested last week would be taken as gospel, but if I test at home, it would need confirming!

The DfE’s operational guidance says that close contacts of “someone who has tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) with a PCR or LFD test” (it doesn’t specify where the test was taken) must isolate for 10 days. This would of course require parents to notify school of a positive home test.

The guidance says that PCR should be taken to “confirm” a positive home LFD result but there doesn’t seem to be any provision for what happens if the PCR is negative!

@HipTightOnions that's only for the home tests. The test centre (ATS) ones are seen as more likely to be accurate as they are supervised by someone trained, so no PCR required, same as at a community test site.

It’s not more accurate though according to this bbc article or the guardian article. It’s also on the front page of The Telegraph tomorrow!

www.bbc.com/news/health-56285179

Not quite sure how 11 year olds can be trusted to be accurate!

I know that a PCR is only required after a home test, VienneseWhirligig.

I am saying it seems that according to the guidance, those who test positive via LFD at home - and their contacts at school - have to isolate.

The guidance doesn’t include any way for a negative PCR to override a positive LFD.

Lateral flows done by HCP at home/hospital are always checked with a PCR, and there have been a fair few false positives.
It’s bullshit that being done at school is deemed as an actual positive. Also the lateral flow result isn’t in any nationally recorded database

And ridiculous that hospital workers are doing something completely different to everyone else...... we are brought straight back to work if the confirming PCR is then negative. And this in my department alone has been a decent number.

[quote Mummyme87]@mightyducks all pos lateral flow must be followed up with a PCR to confirm.[/quote]
This isn't the case for LFT done in school, only for the ones done at home.

But why would a LF test at home be any more or less reliable than a PCR test done at home? 🤔

With a PCR, you get a void if not done properly? With LFD, you only get negative or positive. So, all voids are negative. So, they're less reliable in that sense, on top of the fact that they're less accurate (sensitive) anyway.

You can definitely get an indeterminate result with the lateral flow test too.

I agree they are less reliable, but I couldn't work out the distinction between having them done at home or at school. As a school worker I think I'd be less confident doing the test on someone else's kid than my own too.

The kids are doing it themselves, which is even less reliable in my opinion.

Less likely to get a false positive than false negative anyway though. 0.1-0.3% rather than 50%

Oh that’s ok then. 3 children out of every thousand at home isolating needlessly! Millions on these tests are being carried out 3 times!! That’s thousands of children and their families.

I work in a primary school. One of our teachers hadn't positive LFD test. Her bubble was closed while she went for aPCR test. The PCR came back negative. The headteacher rang PHE who confirmed the bubble could reopen and the teacher could return to work.