School bubbles going. More testing - how will that work for primary school children?

[Tiddlywinkly]

Just that really. Plans will be announced today for a more 'proportionate' response to cases and close contact isolation. Testing will probably be cited as the way to achieve this.

I've had to get my 5 year old tested twice due to him displaying symptoms and it was truly horrendous. We both ended up crying. I'm just wondering if the government will have thought of young children in their plans. I guess if we can't perform the tests they'll have to isolate? Any thoughts?

No idea. Waiting to find out. I can't see that they will expect us to test young children frequently but who knows.

I thought this too. I have a nearly 3 year old who is probe to coughs. He has had 4 negative PCR tests in the last year. They have all been awful, the last one was appalling- he was utterly hysterical, it was so upsetting. I cannot subject him to that every day - I really really hope they take small children into account when designing the next stage rules

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see parents requested to test primary children every X days at home, in full knowledge that people who don't want to do it properly won't. Quick poke in the nostril and scrape of cheek etc.

I would imagine they have forgotten primary schools exist, to be honest.

I'm worried about this too. There is no way I'm going to be able to test my 7 year old (who is extremely prone to nosebleeds) daily without a lot of distress and unpleasantness. If we don't manage it then does that mean he just can't go to school for 10 days and won't even get the remote lessons etc. Waiting to see......

They won’t ask primary children to test imo. Unless they’ve bought a job lot of the spit tests!

@Appuskidu

I would imagine they have forgotten primary schools exist, to be honest.

I’m getting this impression to; they’ve certainly been forgotten by those who don’t have primary aged children. I see a lot of talk about letting those who choose to be unvaccinated get on with it ignoring the fact that it isn’t a choice for a lot of people including children.

Yes great point. Young kids aren't being vaccinated for the foreseeable

I suspect they will say that primary school bubbles can go, they can go back to whole school assemblies of 600 and setting for subjects, but they don’t need to be tested or self isolate if there is a positive case.

I expect with primary they will just do nothing. School will be back to normal. If a child gets covid they isolate. Parents can then choose to also test their children.

I guess what will be interesting is whether schools will be told to inform parents if there has been a positive case of covid in their primary class.

Will parents then have the opportunity to test their child (which tests can they use and how will they get them? How often should tests be done?) if they want. Will they have the option to isolate their child from school if they choose? Will this be free from fines?

I’m a secondary teacher. I don’t hold out much hope for pupils who don’t give consent to daily LFTs if a close contacts. It’s not like we can refuse to educate pupils.

Maybe, as today, parents of primary children will be asked to test themselves?

A spit test would be good . I did a quick poke of my kids nose once due to him resisting and the test came back inconclusive. Presume not enough human cells on there so they knew it wasnt done properly ?

Sorry i mean it came back void not inconclusive

Well testing myself would be relatively pointless. As im double vaxxed ive probably got 60% chance of not catching it.

With no restrictions kids prone to coughs will be constantly testing.

My primary kids have been ok with lateral flow tests ( but may not be if it's everyday). I guess adults could test instead as if one in the household has it then likely to spread.

I'm hoping they don't insist on daily testing. And if they do them they need to get a less invasive test for children.

I don't understand the need to make children test more, when adults seem to be able to go about their lives with the bare minimum testing.

Although DH and I were talking this morning about this and it almost as if the government want as many people/children to catch it before the schools go back in September so they have some form of protection.

My 4yo has had 3 PCRs and was absolutely traumatised, she's had nightmares about them.

If we are required to test to avoid isolation I will just do the tests on myself and submit those.

(Obviously if she has symptoms I will get her tested properly)

@IrisPurple

My 4yo has had 3 PCRs and was absolutely traumatised, she's had nightmares about them.

If we are required to test to avoid isolation I will just do the tests on myself and submit those.

(Obviously if she has symptoms I will get her tested properly)

As a teacher this attitude really worries me.

@ceeveebee

Maybe, as today, parents of primary children will be asked to test themselves?

Possibly although a number of primary parents already are (that’s certainly my experience). It wasn’t particularly well advertised but parents of primary parents had LFT’s made available when the schools went back in March and we’re encouraged to do it twice a week like secondary pupils.

I hope that they don’t get rid of the bubble concept entirely although I think the boundaries should be widened. We need an updated definition of what counts as an outbreak (x number of cases?). This absolutely has a precedent with other notifiable diseases where school premises are closed/cleaned and pupils asked to stay away.

I’m torn between wanting to protect my dd(5) but having very few tools to do that and making sure that her life isn’t affected as severely as it has been this last eighteen months. I’m still very cautious about the impact of having a covid infection even if it doesn’t mean hospitalisation or death. It’s a nasty disease. I’m also not reassured that one infection will offer much future protection and with a large adult vaccinated population school children are basically the canaries in the coal mine. I’m not entirely comfortable with that.

In an ideal world I would like to work towards suppressing the current numbers with the least dramatic measures.

@IrisPurple

My 4yo has had 3 PCRs and was absolutely traumatised, she's had nightmares about them.

If we are required to test to avoid isolation I will just do the tests on myself and submit those.

(Obviously if she has symptoms I will get her tested properly)

Just to offer another perspective my dd (now 5 but has a couple at 4) is absolutely fine with a nasal swab. I’d quite like it to be an option for those who can tolerate it.

I appreciate it's stressful testing them (I've done three hot and sticky and stressful in-car PCR tests with my kids) but most kids do get used to stuff. Case in point: I found my two (aged 2 and 4) actually sticking straws up their noses the other day, pretending they were doing a Covid test... (I did explain that this was not a good idea and removed the straws!)

My eldest (4) has recently started to have eye drops due to a medical condition. He'll have to have them every day for the rest of his life probably, but we only found out about it just over a week ago. We had several days of absolute nightmarish attempts to get the drops in - him crying, me trying to be kind but eventually getting exasperated, etc. etc., and then suddenly he got it. He now pulls his own eyelid down and lets me put the drop in and then is all proud of himself about how easily he can do it now.

I appreciate some kids have special sensory needs and it will be more difficult, but I think most kids can adjust.

@IrisPurple

My 4yo has had 3 PCRs and was absolutely traumatised, she's had nightmares about them.

If we are required to test to avoid isolation I will just do the tests on myself and submit those.

(Obviously if she has symptoms I will get her tested properly)

Realistically, you are going to have plenty of company doing this.

Oh they can fuck right off.