Be honest - what would you ACTUALLY do in this situation?

[ChampagneTastes]

Friends with a lovely, sensible mum at the primary school where DS goes. This morning she told me they'd got there early because her DS had been coughing all night. I gently suggested that perhaps she should get him tested and she said it was fine because her other son had had a cold the previous week. I pointed out that Covid seems to present differently all over the place and it might be worth checking. But I didn't do anything else. She's lovely, has been one of the more cautious parents at the school and is generally sensible but I can't help feeling she's got this one wrong and I don't know if I should do something. And if I should - what? The boy has gone into school today.

Thanks for update OP. I think it's better to be safe than sorry and am glad the woman took her child home. At least now that he has a negative test, nobody will need to be concerned if he coughs in class. It's great, too, that the little boy doesn't have Covid.

People on here referring to grassing and curtain twitching need to have a word with themselves. If Covid made people break out in luminous green boils, or spontaneously grow an extra limb, a test would be unnecessary. But Covid symptoms are similar to other illnesses, so it seems presumptuous to dismiss a cough as 'just a cold' when we're all trying to get out of this shitty situation and back to some sort of normality.

@FunnyWonder

Thanks for update OP. I think it's better to be safe than sorry and am glad the woman took her child home. At least now that he has a negative test, nobody will need to be concerned if he coughs in class. It's great, too, that the little boy doesn't have Covid.

People on here referring to grassing and curtain twitching need to have a word with themselves. If Covid made people break out in luminous green boils, or spontaneously grow an extra limb, a test would be unnecessary. But Covid symptoms are similar to other illnesses, so it seems presumptuous to dismiss a cough as 'just a cold' when we're all trying to get out of this shitty situation and back to some sort of normality.

No I don’t as I wouldn’t dismiss it I just wouldn’t call school to name child

Can you do an LFT not PCR and return?

What’s the process

@MarshaBradyo

Can you do an LFT not PCR and return?

What’s the process

No LFT tests are not supposed to be used for testing people with symptoms - they can give a false negative (which is why even in circumstances where they are appropriate, people should continue to social distance, wear masks and use hand hygeine) They are also not supposed to be used on primary aged children. Unfortunately I don't think the government or many school leaders have done a good job in communication around LFT tests.

Thanks Hazey that’s what I thought

I actually think that’s a bigger issue than whether someone should call or not

If the dc had been coughing in class it would have been noticed

But if negative LFT is incorrect and dc returns then they will be there all day for next few days

I am pretty sure the teachers will notice and send him home for a test, do and say nothing.

It is, Marsha - I think it's a real shame, because LFTs are a useful (if imperfect) tool, when used properly in the right circumstances and alongside other measures.... unfortunately if they are used incorrectly they can make things worse.
Let's face it , given the choice between using an LFT that's on your shelf and gives a result in half an hour is going to be a more attractive prospect than shlepping over to a testing site on an industrial estate in the arse end of nowhere to get a test that will possibly take days to come back! So I get why people are purposefully ignoring or ate unaware of the correct usage...but it could make things worse not better.

Before they were rolled out to schools there should have been a much better information campaign.

The child needs a negative PCR test before they can return to school

I’d ignore it.

It’s not as though she’s unaware of covid. You mentioned it already. Ultimately it’s up to her. You cannot force her to take your advice.

Glad to hear he’s not in coughing over the poor class and teacher but he needs to get a PCR test. The LFT tests aren’t reliable enough to be trusted if you have symptoms.

Of course nobody tests after coughing twice but he was coughing all night. Quite clearly he has a continuous cough which needs to be properly tested. If he has Covid he could pass it on to someone who ends up seriously ill or worse.

DS1 had a cough this morning - I am 99.9% certain that it's not a Covid cough and I am still not sure whether he's actually manufactured it to get off school (he's a borderline school refuser) or not, but I have kept him off and taken him for a test. His siblings have had to stay at home, despite having no symptoms.

We know one child who has been in bed with chronic fatigue since the summer and another who has developed Type 1 diabetes this year - both of which could be an after-effect of having Covid. These are the things I fear more than the actual illness and why I will err on the side of caution - people seem to think that children won't be badly affected by catching it, but I think we will be counting the cost in the future.

@OverTheRainbow88

The child needs a negative PCR test before they can return to school

A child with persistent cough...... should have a negative PCR test BEFORE.......returning to school! Anyone with symptoms needs a PCR test - at drive thru centres or sent to you by post. Then remain in isolation pending results. The LFT test is for ASYMPTOMATIC people only..... (a broad brushstroke to check for infection surges)

Am I missing something here. If the kid goes into school is sent home for pcr test which may come back positive then doesn’t that burst the bubble so the whole bloody class has to go and isolate for 10 days ?.. because that would seriously piss me off .

Oh for goodness sake. When will this madness stop. OP get some perspective and perhaps take up a new hobby, honestly get your brain on something else other than covid hysteria.

@Lesserspottedmama

Guessing your not a teacher in a non ventilated room with coughing kids

As others have said, LFT is not for symptomatic people. I have a friend who was symptomatic and along with her ds tested negative on a LFT but positive on a PCR (she is a HCP and had LFs at home).

When I had covid in December I had a cough for about 4 hours and then it stopped and didn’t come back. I tested in the morning, it had gone by lunchtime. I got a positive result the same day with no further symptoms within the 10 days.

I would do nothing at all.

covid hysteria
I know it's all a big ball ache, @Lesserspottedmama, but surely it's a bigger ball ache if the child is positive and leads to years having to be sent in and people being put at risk.

@Bigshoelittleshoe

I’d probably mind my own business!

Well it is her business if she thinks that her kids will be exposed to covid...

id tell them that they need to take their child home and get them tested. Id be quite clear on my thoughts about it. If they ignored it a and our kids were in the same class, id take my child home.

It’s like some people are in some sort of denial that won’t catch Covid . My dd has only been to work since Christmas and caught it . My dh was in a bit of denial because she didn’t have the main symptoms but I felt something wasn’t right and she tested positive. Dh has felt a bit unwell too but two tests have been negative so must be a cold , there are colds going around but best to get tested . If I had a cough or temperature no way would I mix with anyone I’d get a test . You can’t possibly know without a test but the teachers will most likely send the child home so I wouldn’t worry .

@ChampagneTastes

Update: lovely mum (and she IS lovely): just messaged to say that she felt terrible that she hadn't thought and had taken him home again to do a LFT which came up negative.

I know that the consequences of getting this wrong can be bad but good people sometimes make poor decisions. There is a scary amount of venom on this thread (from both directions!)

So the child didn't enter the school premises? Either way, the child should not have an LFT test but a PCR test. The school office will (hopefully) be on the ball and ask for the precise reason for absence and ask for a negative PCR test result or 10 days self-isolation.

@ChampagneTastes

Update: lovely mum (and she IS lovely): just messaged to say that she felt terrible that she hadn't thought and had taken him home again to do a LFT which came up negative.

I know that the consequences of getting this wrong can be bad but good people sometimes make poor decisions. There is a scary amount of venom on this thread (from both directions!)

Sorry - but she has made another poor decision. For a child with symptoms (cough) she should be booking a proper PCR test...

www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test

MarshaBradyo

DenisetheMenace
No I wouldn’t. Why is it up to me to deal with other dc health?

Yeh right. You call up at every cough you hear and feel great about yourself

I hope you get the chance to feel the glow of in it together soon.“

Yes, until recently I would have. My CEV husband is vaccinated and partially protected now. Our son will be going back to College after Easter for the first time in over a year.

The OP said the child had been coughing all night. Not “every cough”. If someone was so bloody careless as to not think it might, just, be worth getting a test atm then yes , again, damn right I’d report to school.

It’s got fuck all to do with feeling a glow, don’t be a dick. It’s about feeling shit scared for a year because of idiots who don’t think or worst still don’t give a toss about other people not as healthy as they are through no fault of their own.

Anyone who is sending a child who’s been coughing all night into school at the moment without test is an idiot.

@DenisetheMenace

MarshaBradyo

DenisetheMenace
No I wouldn’t. Why is it up to me to deal with other dc health?

Yeh right. You call up at every cough you hear and feel great about yourself

I hope you get the chance to feel the glow of in it together soon.“

Yes, until recently I would have. My CEV husband is vaccinated and partially protected now. Our son will be going back to College after Easter for the first time in over a year.

The OP said the child had been coughing all night. Not “every cough”. If someone was so bloody careless as to not think it might, just, be worth getting a test atm then yes , again, damn right I’d report to school.

It’s got fuck all to do with feeling a glow, don’t be a dick. It’s about feeling shit scared for a year because of idiots who don’t think or worst still don’t give a toss about other people not as healthy as they are through no fault of their own.

Anyone who is sending a child who’s been coughing all night into school at the moment without test is an idiot.

Great so not me then.

As I said I isolated dc who had a cough and then a negative PCR test.

I wouldn’t call as others would but if the child is coughing in class then it will be picked up.

There’s more of an issue with people not following process imo. Using a LFT instead of PCR could be more damaging.

If people spent their energy on checking out right process - and I include letting school follow theirs - better all round.

You could get a negative LFT and be positive but think it’s fine to go back symptoms or not. That is worse.