Current rules on isolation are counter-productive

[Warhertisuff]

I can't be the only one who isn't doing lateral flow tests or overlooking mild symptoms because of the consequences to, not just my family, but the school community.

For instance, last week my 9 year old son had a headache and sore throat... nothing serious and a good night's sleep meant he was well enough to go to school the following day, and he was fine in the days ahead. I didn't do a LFT or get him tested as, had he been positive, he, and his entire year group, would have missed the last 10 days of school, with all the activities and end of year shows etc.

I took the view that the possible damage caused by him having Covid - if he indeed did have it which he probably didn't - and passing to other children (and other adults who largely would have had the chance to have been vaccinated) was less than having the end of the school year ruined for everyone.

If the rules were similar for other illnesses, which I'd argue they can be now that vaccines have made the impact of Covid more like the flu, then more people would take common sense precautions about keeping their kids off school if unwell.

@toomanyplants

End of year play 😂😂 Yeah that's really important when you consider that you could have potentially made a bunch of people seriously ill. Crack on, hope you get a front seat. 🙄

Haven't you heard of the vaccine programme?

OP, stop trying to claim that you know the effect of vaccines and that you know that vaccines make the threat of covid minimal. You don't know that. No one knows that yet.

"Vilest person ever to post on MN!" Catch yourself on, seriously.

@Stevenage689 wellI think the government might have an inkling that risk of getting seriously ill or dying from covid is significantly reduced by the vaccines or they wouldn't be continuing with lockdown easing in the face of large scale covid numbers. Also see hospitalisations and deaths from covid which are readily available .

So you think that people should be able to risk assess driving and decide for themselves to text and drive, drink and drive and dangerous drive for fun ?

Or would you be mighty pissed off if someone was speeding past your childs school at home time whiles drunk and texting?

@rookiemere
Exactly they have the evidence and havent stopped all restrictions yet. Once they do fair enough but for now the government feel that isolating is required

covidworries I appreciate you're anxious - however you need to appreciate that others are not and/or completely sick of their lives being restricted.

My baby had a brief but high temperature this week. I took him to get tested and my kids were all off while we awaited results.

But yes, OP, we did have this conversation and thought process ourselves. It's so shit really that the narrative (for many of us with the privilege of being double vaccinated with no CEV kids or family) has now moved into feeling guilty about causing inconvenience for others if we do test. That's definitely not in the spirit of testing and isolating, is it?

If this change in attitude is widespread then we'd better hope the vaccines continue to work!

@redhotlillies

Pissed off that the only reason my child can be in school is on the assumption by her consultant that people wont send there child to school thinking they have covid but ignoring that on the basis of a school play.

Its hardly restrictive 1 day off school for a result which if negative means child could have still done the play but if positive puts the whole community at risk.

Yes but thats only one that you know off. Chances are that this has happened already in your child's class and your child has already been exposed to the risk - you cant assume other parents think like you do.

The school is very strict onpeople getting tests and not coming to school with any illnesses

My DC school is also strict - however 3 year groups have been isolating as many had no symptoms yet passed it on. It is impossible to avoid completely, not matter what the school put in place.

Pissed off that the only reason my child can be in school is on the assumption by her consultant that people wont send there child to school thinking they have covid but ignoring that on the basis of a school play.

Your consultant knows full well there are no guarantees that parents are testing regularly.

@Rainydayss

Chequerboard - no need to be so facetious. Of course confidential conditions do not need disclosing - I'm a teacher for what its worth and have no need to know about you DH thanks. However the school can put other measures in place - albeit it with discrete methods if needs be.

My point is that some children are high risk for other reasons - my DC has severe nut allergy and yes the school are aware but I can't assume all parents will keep nuts away from my child - we live with that risk and take our own precautions to minimise it.

Watermelon - yes exactly!

There is a child in our school with a severe nut allergy. It is now a nut free school and lunchboxes are checked. No one kicked up a fuss about that to protect that one child, but everyone is kicking up a fuss that they have to obey testing and isolating to protect multiple CEV children within the school. As a parent I know the risk of my CEV child going to school, it won't ever be risk free due to asymptomatic transmission, fully aware of this and there is absolutely nothing can be done about that. However to knowingly send your unwell DC without testing into school is a completely different scenario that can be avoided and therefore reduce the risk slightly.

[quote Watermelon221]@ChequerBoard

I have vulnerable people in my family and work with cev patients. I care an awful lot about both of them.

But things are unsustainable as they are and things are opening up- fact. People who want others to isolate long term are in for a shock unfortunately.

The cev are generally vaccinated and those who aren’t need to make their own risk assessments and decisions on what to do now.[/quote]
What? You want us to lock up our CEV children and deny them an education and keep them isolated just so others don't have the inconvenience of 10 days isolation?
I homeschooled my DC including siblings for over a year, gave up my job to protect my DC. I'm more than happy to do this for longer however it requires the government to provide support to these families both financially and in terms of the education of the children.
When these children are in hospital they still receive an education so why aren't they entitled to receive a safe education during a pandemic?

@jumpbounce a nut allergy is hardly a fair comparison. The only sacrifice required from other DPs and DCs in that instance is avoiding nuts in the lunch box. Here we're talking about DCs losing weeks of education anytime someone gets a positive test.

Meanwhile Michael Gove can come back from an Amber country and continue to work in government by dint of daily tests oh and 60,000 spectators can watch the football together. It hardly seems fair or proportionate.

@jumpbounce you have confused my username in both those last posts with quotes from posters arguing with me.

My DH is CEV as you will see if you scroll and read my actual posts.

[quote ChequerBoard]@jumpbounce you have confused my username in both those last posts with quotes from posters arguing with me.

My DH is CEV as you will see if you scroll and read my actual posts.[/quote]
Oh yes I understand that. It's just the posts have been quoted back to you I think and when I've quoted the replies your name has came up.

[quote rookiemere]@jumpbounce a nut allergy is hardly a fair comparison. The only sacrifice required from other DPs and DCs in that instance is avoiding nuts in the lunch box. Here we're talking about DCs losing weeks of education anytime someone gets a positive test.

Meanwhile Michael Gove can come back from an Amber country and continue to work in government by dint of daily tests oh and 60,000 spectators can watch the football together. It hardly seems fair or proportionate.[/quote]
Yes but it's still a sacrifice. Should we all just say fuck it my kid will only eat Nutella so in the interests of my own child not being inconvenienced I will continue to send Nutella into school?
You don't send a symptomatic child into school with anything or you shouldn't...before covid there was threads on here all the time about people raging about others sending children in and not following the 48 hour rule for V&D but now it's something that doesn't affect them personally so they don't care about the rules for covid which let's face it amount to the same time, around 48 hours off school to confirm a negative result.

Yes better they enjoy the end of year at school, get Covid, and then all those pupils and teachers can isolate for the first two weeks of the summer holidays. I bet lots of parents and teachers who made plans for those weeks would thank you for that.

I understand the frustration over testing and isolating as well. My child has respiratory conditions so we have to deal with regular infections, coughs and fevers so we have had to test and isolate multiple times while awaiting results from they returned to school in April but it is just how it is right now.
Maybe the government should be supporting parents financially (seeing as they have given their friends lots of money in various contracts over this pandemic) when their children need to isolate to be tested or because of a positive or bubble burst but no one advocates for that, rather they just advocate for complete removal of test and isolate instead.

"just so others don't have the inconvenience of 10 days isolation? "

It's not "just an inconvenience". It means that at least one parent has to take 10 days off work. It means a child who may by now be struggling socially has another knock back.

And it's rarely 10 days; it's one set of 10 days, then another, then another, then another. Some MNers are reporting children being sent home for another 10 days the day they return from the previous period.

So all children are being denied an education and being isolated, not just yours, on the chance that they have an illness which is unlikely to cause them anything other than mild symptoms, or none. Your child's situation is particular and needs addressing, but is not going to be improved by damaging the prospects of other children.

According to bmj, fewer than 1 in 5 people request a covid test when they have symptoms and the majority don’t follow the isolating rules.

@amicissimma

"just so others don't have the inconvenience of 10 days isolation? "

It's not "just an inconvenience". It means that at least one parent has to take 10 days off work. It means a child who may by now be struggling socially has another knock back.

And it's rarely 10 days; it's one set of 10 days, then another, then another, then another. Some MNers are reporting children being sent home for another 10 days the day they return from the previous period.

So all children are being denied an education and being isolated, not just yours, on the chance that they have an illness which is unlikely to cause them anything other than mild symptoms, or none. Your child's situation is particular and needs addressing, but is not going to be improved by damaging the prospects of other children.

It doesn't surprise me that it's another and another, given the amount of people who continue to send their children in with symptoms. Maybe if people actually followed the correct procedures for testing with symptoms and isolating then it wouldn't be constantly flying around schools leading to so many isolations in the first place. Do you think CEV children don't have issues with parents loss of income and their education as well? Many of them are behind in school because of their illness leading to them missing lots of school even in non covid times, they do receive schooling in hospital but not the same as they would receive in school, so it is really important that they can attend school.

Plenty of people were jumping on the band wagon of faux concern at getting the schools opened so the vulnerable in terms of socially disadvantaged could be safe and fed (even though these children were able to attend school during lockdown) but there was plenty of support out there for those vulnerable kids only because it benefitted everyone else as well. Whenever we look at the other medically vulnerable children they are just told to stay at home and deal with it because the rest of us have to get back to normal.