Anyone else not going to test children anymore

[Baileysforchristmas]

My daughter is 15, she said none of her friends are testing anymore. Why should I make her test twice a week now? All it will do is stop her going to school and us getting on with our lives, it will also stop her bubble going to school and she will get blamed. My daughter didn’t go to school for 3 months while flights were coming into the country from other parts of the world which could do as they please. Why should I take the risk of putting my daughter’s life on hold, also the more we test the more the numbers go up, Europe’s not testing secondary school children twice a week so obviously their numbers won’t be showing as high.

My DD's secondary have been part of a Saliva Test trial since September so instead of LFT's, she simply spits in the tube once a week. I am unsure why this hasn't been rolled out wider as her school have definitely caught asymptomatic cases although I understand it does need a specific type of lab to process. It's obviously totally non-invasive and the school have had huge success, with, I believe, over 90% of students still testing now. A couple of the millions spent on Track & Trace, invested here would, I am sure, get far more buy-in!

OP, why does the borders having been open with India longer than they probably should have been, and your consequent pissed-off-ness at that, stop your secondary school aged kids from testing? I genuinely don't understand your reasoning here. Yes, the government screwed up. That doesn't cancel out the reasons why it's still a good idea to do lateral flow tests routinely for secondary school kids - cases are rising again, we don't yet know if the Delta variant is going to be a significant risk or not. What on earth do you lose by testing?

My mum was stranded abroad earlier this year (EU country, where she lives with my dad much of the time) and couldn't come back to UK for vaccinations until quite recently. She's not yet had her second jab. There will be 1000s of other adults who haven't, for one reason or another, had (or are able to have) their full course. Let alone the younger adults over 18. Still, fuck 'em, eh?

I don’t want to know if she’s positive or not if none of us have any symptoms, no one round us are poorly then what’s the point. I could’ve already had it and have spread it, who knows, no one in my daughters bubbles are testing, we don’t have to do it so we’re not going to do it anymore, it will spread anyway because people allowed to come in out of the country

OP, if I said what I truly thought of you, I'd probably get kicked off MN. What a pleasant piece of work you must be to know in RL.

If we had a strong border enforcement with quarantine to keep out variants then the testing would be consistent . The lack of consistency means that testing will serve no purpose as the policy at borders is allowing the virus to spread. The inconsistency means that the twice weekly testing serves little purpose unless it is done everywhere and then borders are shut.

Numbers of infections in schools locally here are worse than I think might have been the case during previous peaks with original COVID and Kent/Alpha? Delta variant seems to be more infections and present differently (much worse) in younger people in my patient population.

@Baileysforchristmas

All the efforts we have been making, locking down, children off school for months, locked away in our houses, children being tested twice a week and then thousands coming in from India who were not locked down, millions were mixing for weddings, religious ceremonies, no I’m not doing it anymore

According to the Civil Aviation Authority, about 50,000 people travelled between India and the UK in February, nearly 900 a day in each direction. On 13 May, Public Health England found nearly half of Delta variant cases in England were travellers.

I completely agree with you and feel exactly the same.

It’s ridiculous and futile. I was happy to test 2 x per week etc when we were all in it together to reduce the spread but actually we weren’t all in it together as you describe, with people jetting off to India when we weren’t allowed out of the house unless for a valid reason.

Why do some people look at other people doing something idiotic in a pandemic, and decide, instead of following the guidelines, they will become an idiot too!

“You are being totally irresponsible. My school is currently closed. The delta variant was gone through it like wildfire. We have several teens very ill, and many many less ill. We have hundreds of families self isolating, and at least one grandparent associated with school spread is in hospital. All of this could have been avoided if children had been testing properly. Some were, some were not. The lateral flow tests are not particularly accurate, but on a community wide basis they work. Of course it takes a whole community effort”

All of this could’ve been avoided with better border control and putting high risk countries on the red list immediately with no warning toallow people to rush back. We were in a good place before the delta variant.

All of this could have been avoided if people quarantined properly on returning from abroad and were fined heavily if they didn’t.

@Abraxan

All it will do is stop her going to school and us getting on with our lives,

False positives are not very common and these days you can get a PCR the same day and results are back within 24 hours. So the isolation period if negative PCR is often a day at most.

If positive and PCR is positive then surely it is better for everyone that it is known and that she, and her close contacts, isolate rather than unknowingly spreading it.

also the more we test the more the numbers go up,

I hate this argument. It makes no sense.

Surely it is far better for us to know if people are covid positive, even if asymptomatic, so that the virus is spreading less.

Whilst the vaccines are working very well, please remember that some vulnerable people cannot have the vaccine and in some CEV/CV and elderly people the vaccines are less effective due to their health. So your DD could spread the virus unknowingly to these people and it will affect them far more.

This It’s quite simple really But you’d made your mind up anyway so not sure why you asked

@Watermelon222

“You are being totally irresponsible. My school is currently closed. The delta variant was gone through it like wildfire. We have several teens very ill, and many many less ill. We have hundreds of families self isolating, and at least one grandparent associated with school spread is in hospital. All of this could have been avoided if children had been testing properly. Some were, some were not. The lateral flow tests are not particularly accurate, but on a community wide basis they work. Of course it takes a whole community effort”

All of this could’ve been avoided with better border control and putting high risk countries on the red list immediately with no warning toallow people to rush back. We were in a good place before the delta variant.

All of this could have been avoided if people quarantined properly on returning from abroad and were fined heavily if they didn’t.

I agree. But the borders were not closed, and people did not isolate, so here we are

@Lanaa

I've read some bollocks on Mumsnet over the years but this thread seems to have attracted every single idiotic arsehole on the whole site. I hope you're not going to send your potentially infectious children to school if you're not testing them.

This. This, this, this.

In the words of my 15y ds, he will carry on testing ‘because I’m not a selfish arsehole.’

It’s hard to disagree with him.

Surely there are not many people this stupid in real life!

@Baileysforchristmas

My daughter won’t be testing anymore. Out of the 2000 children in my daughters school not one child has been seriously ill with Covid. I mean if teachers are testing regularly cases can be picked up. Why does the rest of Europe not test secondary school children twice a week, why is it only the UK?

In many European schools there are many more measures in place including mask wearing for children e.g. in France children aged 6+ wear masks. There is also compulsory mark wearing for adults in schools.

In the UK the only measures we currently have in many schools alongside take a lateral flow test if you want to is open a window if you can and anti bac your hands.

If you want school to be as close as normal for the children (full classes, normal timetable, no distancing within the bubble) then taking a lateral flow test is a small price to pay.

I don't understand why kids are being "traumatised" by testing

@Lanaa

I've read some bollocks on Mumsnet over the years but this thread seems to have attracted every single idiotic arsehole on the whole site. I hope you're not going to send your potentially infectious children to school if you're not testing them.

I get the point you are making but I hate the assumption that every teenager is a walking positive covid case. It's not just down to teenagers to test, every adult who works out the home should be testing but I don't see many threads about that. And don't give me the "workplaces should be covid secure where schools aren't bollocks " most places are relying on little more than a bit of hand gel and a flimsy face covering when walking round. Sick to death of kids getting a battering for being responsible for the spread when there's a many many other reasons too.

@ineedaholidaynow

Why do some people look at other people doing something idiotic in a pandemic, and decide, instead of following the guidelines, they will become an idiot too!

Totally agree with this.

@AmIPeriOrAreYouJustAnnoying

I don't understand why kids are being "traumatised" by testing

Some children can't cope with haircuts, some are afraid of needles, some freak out at loud noises or crowds, people are afraid of all sorts of things. It's invasive, uncomfortable, it's over and over, not just when they are ill. Can you not see why a child might have one or more tests then refuse any more?

No it’s not a big deal. If our children can’t cope with this, during a worldwide emergency, then something has gone seriously seriously wrong in our culture and our parenting.

I agree with you OP. I'd test if we were going to visit granny or if she was going to a big event or something but otherwise no.

I don't see the point in all these cases being reported if hardly anyone is dying anymore.

The tests are mildly unpleasant. Less so the more you do them. If you have raised a child who isn't willing to do something mildly unpleasant for 2 minutes a week, for the protection of those around them, then I think you should be bloody ashamed of yourself. And if they are understandly hesitant or not keen, it's your job as a parent to help them overcome that.

Copperpotsalot is granny the only member of society worth caring about?

@GlomOfNit

I don’t want to know if she’s positive or not if none of us have any symptoms, no one round us are poorly then what’s the point. I could’ve already had it and have spread it, who knows, no one in my daughters bubbles are testing, we don’t have to do it so we’re not going to do it anymore, it will spread anyway because people allowed to come in out of the country

OP, if I said what I truly thought of you, I'd probably get kicked off MN. What a pleasant piece of work you must be to know in RL.

Yep the best of society really crawling out from their rocks now.....

@AmIPeriOrAreYouJustAnnoying

I don't understand why kids are being "traumatised" by testing

You don’t understand why my two year old doesn’t like being pinned down and having a cotton bud forcibly shoved up his nose?

It’s really difficult to gauge the depth with a wriggling toddler too. I often think I might have hurt him in the struggle to get a sample.

Some people avoid GP’s and blood tests etc. It’s hardly rocket science as to why they might resist a Covid test.

No, I have a hard enough job getting my 13 year old to school, never mind telling him he has to test twice a week for the privilege.
The only other place he goes is football, and that's basically just boys from his year.
If he gets symptoms, he will test.

Because whatever we do is never enough, lockdowns haven’t worked, vaccinations are working but not good enough, we will still be in lockdown again by autumn whether I test my daughter or not.

These teens that won’t test/ wear masks etc. I wonder how they are goi g to feel about themselves in 5 years time. I wonder how they are going to present their decisions to others in the future. How are they going to explain to their future 12year old son, for example, that in a time of international crisis, they personally did not step up and tolerate a bit of mild inconvenience and discomfort. How will they justify this to a future 19 year old grand daughter.

I suspect many of them won’t y admit it. I suspect it will become a shameful secret that they hope no one knows.