Child asked to remain at home for unconfirmed covid

[Chillychangchoo]

Is this normal?

My child has been asked to self isolate by the school for an unconfirmed case of coronavirus. (Year 3)

I presume a child is waiting for test results in the class but in the meantime the whole class has to isolate?

Is this standard procedure?

@NotJustAnyOldDog

I imagine the professional people running the school have made a professional and educated decision to send the class home until they know more. Assume they know a shit load more about the situation than you and presume they are acting in the best interests of the school and the children. They don’t owe you a full explanation of their reasoning. They are professionals doing their job.

No, they don’t “owe” her an explanation but it’s perfectly reasonable for a parent to query under what circumstances their child will be asked to isolate! Especially if the school is going beyond the government rules.

@NotJustAnyOldDog

I imagine the professional people running the school have made a professional and educated decision to send the class home until they know more. Assume they know a shit load more about the situation than you and presume they are acting in the best interests of the school and the children. They don’t owe you a full explanation of their reasoning. They are professionals doing their job.

The professional people running my child’s school told me to send my DC in while we were waiting for a Covid test result due to symptoms ... I think it’s reasonable for parents to query when schools are not following Covid guidelines.

I think I am right in saying a lateral flow test done at home is considered an unconfirmed positive until the PCR results are back, certainly the data website refers to them as unconfirmed.

But the school can’t share personal information which they may or may not have been told about the child’s circumstances. They aren’t going to close a class for shits and giggles.

I didn't think the lateral flow tests were for primary school cases?

As far as I know (I work in a school office) this is not how things are done. I would email the school and ask for clarification. Has this been advised by public health as it's not the usual procedure etc? However, I would guess that the child has taken a parent or secondary school age sibling's LFT test and it was positive, so they are retesting with PCR and waiting for the result. But I would expect the school to explain these unusual circumstances and the reason for the precaution.

Is it definitely a child and not a teacher?

@skeggycaggy

No, a false positive is more likely on an LFT than a PCR. The guidance is explicit that LFT positives should be confirmed by a PCR.

Only if done at home, if done at a test centre a positive LFT counts as positive I believe and can't be overturned by a negative PCR. This was discussed a lot when schools were testing at school

@Chillychangchoo sensible because if it does turn out to be a positive case then your child (along with their classmates) are also potentially positive. If your children are potentially positive they’ll still be mixing with their families, with school staff, possibly going into shops with parents etc etc. That is how Covid spreads. If we want to stop the spread enough that we can start reopening society, isolating contacts of a suspected positive child is a wise idea.

I didn't think the lateral flow tests were for primary school cases?

There are adults in primary schools

LFT results are explicitly referred to as unconfirmed, like others I think it's most likely they are waiting for the PCR confirmation. The good news is that having the kids and teachers home a day earlier makes it less likely they will catch and spread covid to their families.

My guess would be the teacher or assistant has tested positive on lateral flow (taken 2 x week) and theyre now waiting on PCR to confirm it.

@EnoughnowIthink

I didn't think the lateral flow tests were for primary school cases?

There are adults in primary schools

I typed cases instead of children. Currently have both coming out of my ears.

Bloody hell skeggy, what were they thinking! Our school had to close for a week because kids came in while waiting for test results