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Told to isolate - can i collect children from school?

254 replies

petitdonkey · 16/03/2021 13:02

Apologies if this has been done! I’ve just received a notification to isolate for eight days (I went to the supermarket on Saturday and was at work- no other contact!) - my children are at school, perhaps a stupid question but am I allowed to drive to pick up and drop off this week?? I have just emailed work who I guess won’t be thrilled...

What a PITA!!!

OP posts:
RichardMarxisinnocent · 16/03/2021 16:26

It's not. The NHS didn't make an app. SERCO did and badged it as NHS. Many NHS staff have been to distance themselves from it. There is no app endorsed by actual NHS staff.

I repeat, the app has nothing to do with Serco. Serco did not develop the NHS COVID-19 app. It's administered and owned by the Department of health and social care, and the development team has staff from NHS digital, NHSx, Accenture, Oxford uni and others, but crucially not Serco.

itsgettingwierd · 16/03/2021 16:30

@UserTwice

And yes, some people really do have zero support and absolutely nobody else able to collect or look after their children.

If they have children at school, then they have other school parents to ask. They may not want to, but the option is there.

I knew no one else when my ds was at school.

As a single parent who used local wraparound care I didn't even have other parents contact details. Class what's app etc didnt even exist back then!

So I'd have really had no one available during school pick up time to collect ds.

I know people who have a support network find it hard to believe but some people really just don't!

Lentillover1900 · 16/03/2021 16:30

@raincamepouringdown

I would drop off and pick up and not leave the car.

Children need to be in school unless OP herself tests positive.

People need to stop over reacting.

But where would the fun be in that?

So many are going to be utterly morose when we emerge from this. Covid has given them a purpose.

And that purpose is to spend hours on mumsnet spewing nonsense

MrsFrisbyMouse · 16/03/2021 16:31

@Londonwriter no - the app uses blue tooth to send out a signal every 15 minutes - which checks for other signals close by (determined by the strength of the signal) So if Bob is stood by the tomatos and pings off Jane by the turnips - and then 15 minutes later they happen to be in the same queue in the checkout- the app will record that as being in close contact for 15 minutes (because it does not know they moved apart the rest of the time.) For all intents and purposes it treats the time between the two pings as continuous (it doesn't as far as I am aware take into consideration any finer location detail.)

petitdonkey · 16/03/2021 16:32

@Mydogmylife - I have been to work (a school) but am assuming if a colleague has tested positive we would have been informed (and it’s primary so the children don’t have phones.)

My teens can certainly look after themselves but they don’t drive and we are rural with my sons school 12 miles away - I drive him to the train station then drop my daughter to school which is 7 miles from home. They could potentially get a public bus to the town but surely it’s actually safer to be in a car with a person they live with who has no symptoms??!

OP posts:
Londonwriter · 16/03/2021 16:33

[quote JinglingHellsBells]@Londonwriter

The stats show that picking up the virus at a supermarket is in fact very small.

There were some stats which showed that X number of people with the virus had been in a supermarket within X number of days.

However....what the stats didn't show was where else they had also been.

So these people in the supermarket may have been to work, on public transport, or mixing with friends or colleagues.

Yes, the virus is spread by an aerosol effect but in shops most people are wearing masks and many supermarkets are limiting numbers and trying to ensure the 2 mtr rule.

I know it varies hugely and I'd not want to go into a crowded supermarket.

But the reality is that the virus is caught most often within the home or socialising with other people.

As for the OP, picking up your children if you don't get out of you car is sensible. Obviously if you test positive / show symptoms, that's a different scenario.[/quote]
Numerous friends got COVID-19 in the first wave, in March/April/May, after going to the supermarket and - otherwise - (claiming to be) hiding indoors.

This was before mask wearing was routine, and before people got accustomed to COVID-19 precautions. When I took my baby DS to have his first childhood immunisations in early May, our local GP surgery had six receptionists crowded around in the reception area, one of them coughing, and an unmasked health visitor wanted to take me into a small unventilated room to examine and weigh my baby (I refused). Within a few weeks, the surgery had one receptionist out front, huge plastic screens across the reception, and everyone was wearing a mask...

So, yes, things have changed, and I expect the risk of supermarkets has decreased as a result! Smile

itsgettingwierd · 16/03/2021 16:33

[quote petitdonkey]@Mydogmylife - I have been to work (a school) but am assuming if a colleague has tested positive we would have been informed (and it’s primary so the children don’t have phones.)

My teens can certainly look after themselves but they don’t drive and we are rural with my sons school 12 miles away - I drive him to the train station then drop my daughter to school which is 7 miles from home. They could potentially get a public bus to the town but surely it’s actually safer to be in a car with a person they live with who has no symptoms??![/quote]
We have been told whilst in school we have to turn off the notifications because everyone's phones are together all day - but we are not!

Sansaplans · 16/03/2021 16:35

The children can still go to school, if you aren't getting out of the car then I would drive them and do that. Seems riskier to ask someone else, and unfair to keep them off when they have had to be home so much anyway lately.

Londonwriter · 16/03/2021 16:37

[quote MrsFrisbyMouse]@Londonwriter no - the app uses blue tooth to send out a signal every 15 minutes - which checks for other signals close by (determined by the strength of the signal) So if Bob is stood by the tomatos and pings off Jane by the turnips - and then 15 minutes later they happen to be in the same queue in the checkout- the app will record that as being in close contact for 15 minutes (because it does not know they moved apart the rest of the time.) For all intents and purposes it treats the time between the two pings as continuous (it doesn't as far as I am aware take into consideration any finer location detail.)[/quote]
This is useful to know. Thanks!

Sansaplans · 16/03/2021 16:37

Also surprised anyone is still using the app as it's so crap and innacurate. If it's just that rather than being contacted by T&T then meh.

MrKlaw · 16/03/2021 16:39

[quote AWhisperWillDoIfThatsAllYouCan]@MrKlaw

We're a year into this pandemic now. And you dont know this?
The OP has been told to isolate because she was a contact of someone. No one else in her household needs to isolate.
If the OP starts to show symptoms, then and only then, do her family need to isolate while she gets tested. If positive, they all stay isolated. If negative, they can go back out.

How can you not know that? It's been months and months of the same rule.[/quote]
I guess I’m tired and logic doesn’t always line up with policy

Seems odd to self isolate because you may be at risk of catching Covid and spreading it, but then not isolating your family members who can go to school with hundreds of others. If you’re positive but asymptomatic?

If it’s the rules it’s the rules and that’s good for the OP. My brain is just sawdust now frankly

IsThisJustLife · 16/03/2021 16:44

In your situation I would collect them and then keep them at home for the full time. It is unrealistic to think that you could do otherwise.

The app rules are very black and white, but clearly don't cover every eventuality. It is a pain but hopefully all over soon. It's a good reminder of why so many people find it so difficult to self-isolate from a practical point of view.

RichardMarxisinnocent · 16/03/2021 16:45

[quote MrsFrisbyMouse]@Londonwriter no - the app uses blue tooth to send out a signal every 15 minutes - which checks for other signals close by (determined by the strength of the signal) So if Bob is stood by the tomatos and pings off Jane by the turnips - and then 15 minutes later they happen to be in the same queue in the checkout- the app will record that as being in close contact for 15 minutes (because it does not know they moved apart the rest of the time.) For all intents and purposes it treats the time between the two pings as continuous (it doesn't as far as I am aware take into consideration any finer location detail.)[/quote]
Have you actually read the app's risk scoring algorithm? It's a lot more complex than you suggest. For starters Bluetooth strength is checked every 3.6 minutes in average not every 15, and it absolutely does know that Bob and Jane moved apart. I don't have time to write out the entirety of how it works, but a google of NHS covid 19 app risk scoring finds it. If you're going to write an answer using such definitive wording, please make sure what you're writing is correct.

AColdDuncanGoodhew · 16/03/2021 16:45

I’m a nurse, no-one I know in my current work or in previous hospitals I have worked have the app as its so unreliable. We’d forever have staff off if we all used the app. When it came out we were told to have it off at work as it would ping people who’d been at work dealing with covid patients

RichardMarxisinnocent · 16/03/2021 16:46

This is useful to know. Thanks!
It isn't correct, googling NHS covid 19 app risk scoring will find accurate info on how it works.

PurpleDaisies · 16/03/2021 16:47

@AColdDuncanGoodhew

I’m a nurse, no-one I know in my current work or in previous hospitals I have worked have the app as its so unreliable. We’d forever have staff off if we all used the app. When it came out we were told to have it off at work as it would ping people who’d been at work dealing with covid patients
That’s not at all the same situation. The app would know you’ve been in close proximity but not that you’re wearing full PPE.
GreenWillow · 16/03/2021 16:48

@UserTwice

And yes, some people really do have zero support and absolutely nobody else able to collect or look after their children.

If they have children at school, then they have other school parents to ask. They may not want to, but the option is there.

This, honestly, how hard do some people make it for themselves?
OneDayAtATime1305 · 16/03/2021 16:51

No you can't - imagine how many people you could pass to at the gates!

Gwenhwyfar · 16/03/2021 16:52

@FedNlanders

Well I dont know about op but I am the only person that can pick my kids up, so I would have too.
How can you be the only one? What's stopping a taxi driver or another parent from doing it?
Twoobles · 16/03/2021 16:54

I’d just drop and pick them up a few streets away and not get out of my car. This whole thing has been going on far too long now so just do what you need to for your family. Obviously I’m not suggesting going shopping etc in person and visiting people. But it’s better your kids are at school and dropping them off isn’t putting others at risk.

Bagamoyo1 · 16/03/2021 16:57

I’d drive my kids to and from school. After all the school they’ve missed, I’m not having them missing more just because I was isolating. Especially as you’re testing twice a week anyway OP.

Playdoughcaterpillar · 16/03/2021 17:01

I would drive them and pick up without leaving car if that’s your only option. Common sense sadly lacking here today. It’s unlikely this is a greater risk to your kids than living with them!

Moonstone1234 · 16/03/2021 17:06

It constantly surprises me that many people have no one in the world to help them out, no partner, no family, no friends, no friendly neighbours, dont want to pay out for a taxi etc.

I get the impression they just want to do what they like and when people ask them if they could ask a friend they say they dont have any.

FedNlanders · 16/03/2021 17:06

@Gwenhwyfar, as said up thread it's not really that simple. I don't know why people don't understand this!

Sansaplans · 16/03/2021 17:09

@Moonstone1234

It constantly surprises me that many people have no one in the world to help them out, no partner, no family, no friends, no friendly neighbours, dont want to pay out for a taxi etc.

I get the impression they just want to do what they like and when people ask them if they could ask a friend they say they dont have any.

What during a pandemic? OP has said her partner works away, we aren't supposed to be seeing family and friends, and struggle to see how it's 'safer' if that's the concern with someone else taking them when they live with OP?
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