Work are making me test. Do we need to?

[Dandylioness1]

DS (15 months) has been absolutely full of cold for 5 days now. Really grumpy and just not himself.
He also has 2 teeth coming through.

He had a really unsettled night last night. Temp was fine.

This morning he seemed okay so I sent him to nursery as normal.

Just after lunch they called to say he had been down for a nap (doesn’t usually have a morning nap at nursery so he must’ve been shattered) and he’d woken up with a temp of 38.4

I went to collect him. The nursery have said they don’t need a negative Covid test for him to go back.

Glad of this to be honest. He doesn’t go anywhere apart from nursery, he’s in the baby room with 6 others, all staff test, me and DH test twice weekly and are vaccinated.

Work have just called me to say I won’t be allowed back until both me and my son have had a negative PCR test.

Can they make us test?

*could of have cases

@MrsHuntGeneNotJeremyObviously

The baby is teething. He had a temperature and now doesn't. Unless you are living in an area with high transmission rates or the Indian variant, a test seems like overkill to me. Given that people can have Covid and be completely asymptomatic, we might as well all be having PCR tests every day, by their logic. I'd he happy with a negative LF, personally. But seemingly you have no choice OP.

In fairness though, it's not the same as us all having to test despite being asymptomatic because OP's DS was not asymptomatic, he was displaying one of the three main symptoms. Is there any guidance on whether a temperature needs to be sustained to warrant a test?

My only issue tbh would be why work needs a negative test for DS and not just for OP.

@Sittingonabench

The line in the sand is based on symptoms. Yes children get bugs and some of them share symptoms with Covid but might not be Covid - that’s why you get them tested. You can say how unfair it is but you can’t say it is absolutely not Covid until you get a reliable test. So whether you test or self isolate it isn’t for no reason and just because you think it is unlikely - doesn’t mean he isn’t carrying it (which of course means he can pass it to you and you carry it to work). Your works policy/request appears entirely reasonable and if you’re not against getting him tested, and you follow the logic I’m not sure why you’re against it.

@Sittingonabench

I’m not against it.

I’ve booked a test!

@Bibidy

Why would I need a test? I don’t have symptoms.

He doesn’t see other people. He goes to nursery. That’s it. They were the ones who said they were happy for us not to test.

But you have no idea whether he could have caught Covid at nursery. Can you guarantee that none of the other children or workers has been in contact with it?

[quote Dandylioness1]@Bibidy

Why would I need a test? I don’t have symptoms.[/quote]
I don't think you need one, just saying that I could see your work asking you for one more so than your son. I think it's quite unusual they have requested one for him.

Appalling on the part of the nursery, how on earth do they not understand their responsibilities after all this time.

It must be awful having kids at nursery with all this, I remember the days we kept getting phone calls telling us they had a second runny nappy and couldn’t come in for 48 hours and my and DH trying to sort with work who would have them, and this is 10 times worse, I appreciate how frustrating this must be. However when you say he hasn’t been anywhere, he could be playing with someone who does go here there and everywhere and maybe that child and their parents have no symptoms and don’t use LFT for whatever reason, so not really as simple as saying he can’t have it as he goes nowhere.

Don’t want to test him….do 2 LFTs rather than one PCR 🤨

I’ve done lateral flows on him (2 to be safe)

FACEPALM

It doesn't work like that. If it was as simple to improve the efficacy of LF tests as that, EVERYONE would be told to take two tests!!

Aside from the remote chance that you've not taken a sample properly on one test, it doesn't matter how many LF tests you take. You could take 100, all negative, it doesn't prove you don't have covid!! There are various reasons why an infected person may give -ve LF tests - that's why the RULES are there!! If you have symptoms - you NEED a PCR test!!

@bookworm1632

I’ve done lateral flows on him (2 to be safe)

FACEPALM

It doesn't work like that. If it was as simple to improve the efficacy of LF tests as that, EVERYONE would be told to take two tests!!

Aside from the remote chance that you've not taken a sample properly on one test, it doesn't matter how many LF tests you take. You could take 100, all negative, it doesn't prove you don't have covid!! There are various reasons why an infected person may give -ve LF tests - that's why the RULES are there!! If you have symptoms - you NEED a PCR test!!

@bookworm1632

I HAVE BOOKED ONE

It’s not nice for such young children to be tested but remember it can be quite serious if a child catches covid especially afterwards so it’s a good thing to know either way.

I would be raging if I was another parent in the nursery and knew that they were accepting children with temperatures without negative tests and to be honest I would be reporting it to whoever would listen because it puts others at risk. My own child is vulnerable and is very often unwell so we end up with covid tests regularly as the rules insist despite knowing the likelihood is that it is 'normal' illness. Unfair to then be exposed in a setting not following the guidelines put in place to protect other people and children.
Equally the benefit to testing is that if your child becomes more unwell and needs to see a doctor most GPs will insist on a negative test before seeing someone with symptoms and this has happened to friends of ours with babies and I've heard of it in other areas as well.
It's not nice to test babies or small children but it's over in seconds they won't even remember and if it helps prevent spread in a nursery it is worth it.
I'm sure you would be complaining if your child had to self isolate as a close contact for 10 days as a result of the nursery accepting a child with symptoms who later turned out to be positive!

I bet the proponents of “common sense” would be livid if a healthcare professional dismissed a non-blanching rash as something insignificant due to common sense. The principle is identical - it is a symptom of meningitis in a minority of cases, but the impact in those cases is massive, so that symptom is taken seriously until meningitis can be ruled out. The difference is that the risk with covid is usually to others. So essentially the “common sensers” mean: chances of this ending badly for me, even if it is covid, are minor so I’ll use my common sense and do what I want.

I’m really surprised by some of those comments

Baby has a temperature, he should be tested.
The OP doesn’t have to self isolate. She doesn’t have to take a test.

IF baby is positive, which I agree is unlikely, then and only then should the OP, along all other people in the house, should self isolate.
She doesn’t have to do a PCR test as she has NO symptoms. The guidance is clear that wo symptoms, people should do a LFT, which the OP does anyway

Not really How2Help. The child briefly had a temperature which is a sign of Covid but also a pretty generic sign of many other illnesses. He is also teething. So it really is far more likely that the child has a tooth coming through than Covid. And has had negative LF tests.
It doesn't do any harm to test but given our current infection rates it probably is over cautious. At most I would expect work to ask the OP for a negative test, am not really sure they can exclude her from work if she doesn't want to test her baby.

@CovidSmart You need to name change...

If anyone in the house has symptoms the whole household self-isolates until a negative PCR test is returned for the person with symptoms (in this case, the baby).

I can’t believe people still don’t get this fourteen months in 🤯

@CovidSmart

I’m really surprised by some of those comments

Baby has a temperature, he should be tested.
The OP doesn’t have to self isolate. She doesn’t have to take a test.

IF baby is positive, which I agree is unlikely, then and only then should the OP, along all other people in the house, should self isolate.
She doesn’t have to do a PCR test as she has NO symptoms. The guidance is clear that wo symptoms, people should do a LFT, which the OP does anyway

And this is why we are off to hell in a handcart.

No she doesn't need to take a test but OP needs to isolate until the result for her son comes back.

Nope. She doesn't.
The person who has the symptoms needs to self isloate, not the other memebers of the hosuehold.
Otherwise, its not just the OP but the whole of the family who should be self isolating.

The OP needs to self isolate if she has been in cotact with someone who HAS TESTED postive so if the baby is positive.

@CovidSmart

I’m really surprised by some of those comments

Baby has a temperature, he should be tested.
The OP doesn’t have to self isolate. She doesn’t have to take a test.

IF baby is positive, which I agree is unlikely, then and only then should the OP, along all other people in the house, should self isolate.
She doesn’t have to do a PCR test as she has NO symptoms. The guidance is clear that wo symptoms, people should do a LFT, which the OP does anyway

I think OPs workplace are perhaps going along the lines of everyone in a household where someone has symptoms should self isolate while that person gets tested and until they receive a negative result. OPs baby has symptoms therefore, OP and a partner if there is one living with them, all need to self isolate until the baby is tested and is negative.

@CovidSmart

Nope. She doesn't. The person who has the symptoms needs to self isloate, not the other memebers of the hosuehold. Otherwise, its not just the OP but the whole of the family who should be self isolating.

The OP needs to self isolate if she has been in cotact with someone who HAS TESTED postive so if the baby is positive.

You’re still wrong ffs.

If someone in a household has symptoms the whole household have to self-isolate until the person with symptoms, i.e. the baby in this case, gets a PCR test and the result comes back negative.

When to self-isolate
Self-isolate immediately if:

you have any symptoms of COVID-19 (a high temperature, a new, continuous cough or a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste)
you've tested positive for COVID-19 – this means you have the virus
someone you live with has symptoms or tested positive
someone in your childcare or support bubble has symptoms and you’ve been in close contact with them since their symptoms started or during the 48 hours before they started.

From the NHS page. Yes all members of the household should be self isolating until the results are back.

@CovidSmart

Nope. She doesn't. The person who has the symptoms needs to self isloate, not the other memebers of the hosuehold. Otherwise, its not just the OP but the whole of the family who should be self isolating.

The OP needs to self isolate if she has been in cotact with someone who HAS TESTED postive so if the baby is positive.

When to self-isolate Self-isolate immediately if:

-you have any symptoms of COVID-19 (a high temperature, a new, continuous cough or a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste)
-you've tested positive for COVID-19 – this means you have the virus
someone you live with has symptoms or tested positive
-someone in your childcare or support bubble has symptoms and you’ve been in close contact with them since their symptoms started or during the 48 hours before they started
-someone in your childcare or support bubble tested positive and you’ve been in close contact with them since they had the test or in the 48 hours before their test
-you've been told you've been in contact with someone who tested positive – find out what to do if you're told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace or the NHS COVID-19 app
-you have arrived in England from abroad (not including Ireland, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or other parts of the UK) – see GOV.UK: how to quarantine when you arrive in England

I refer you to point 3 on the above

Link: www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/self-isolation-and-treatment/when-to-self-isolate-and-what-to-do/

@CovidSmart

Nope. She doesn't. The person who has the symptoms needs to self isloate, not the other memebers of the hosuehold. Otherwise, its not just the OP but the whole of the family who should be self isolating.

The OP needs to self isolate if she has been in cotact with someone who HAS TESTED postive so if the baby is positive.

Is your username ironic?