So are they preparing schools for LFTs for close contacts?

[Regulus]

It's been said that U18 and the double jabbed won't have to isolate if they are a close contact from 16 August.

This has been taken at face value.

This new report from Oxford says testing for close contacts is a successful way to avoid isolation and that

Prof Paul Hunter, from the University of East Anglia, said schools would probably still need some controls on their return

"At least daily testing... will have less harm on children's education than the current exclusion policy, whether or not it has real benefit in controlling the epidemic,"

So what is the plan, close contacts of primary get tested daily?
Senior school children get tested daily but if they don't agree/can't will they still need to isolate (and therefore will teachers still need to be prepared with online work?)

Why tout the idea of normal school in September when this is not possible?

In an ideal world (imo), they would relocate some of the testing staff and facilities to grounds of secondary schools specifically to offer rapid testing to contacts before they walk into the school buildings.

But of course, if it happens, it will be left for head teachers and their staff to manage.

Teachers will still need to be prepared to have students accessing lessons from home, if they have tested positive but are feeling well.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57733276.amp

Under 18s won’t be isolating either so don’t know why daily testing is being mentioned. We will be testing out pupils once when they return in September as that is what the DfE have mandated but after that there will be no testing or isolating.

As far as I know, the twice weekly LFD testing will be stopping at the end of September.

If under 18s are a close contact, they will be offered a PCR test and then sent straight back to school. No daily lateral flow testing at all.

I was told the definition of ‘close contact’ for children has been pretty much redefined to ‘having a sleepover with’ so it may be that the government decide nobody is a close contact anyway. This may not be true though!

@motherrunner

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57733276.amp

Under 18s won’t be isolating either so don’t know why daily testing is being mentioned. We will be testing out pupils once when they return in September as that is what the DfE have mandated but after that there will be no testing or isolating.

I know, but this isn't what today's news is suggesting and we know what the government a d DfE are like for U turns.

My concern is the majority will be expecting no testing for U18 where I seems that maybe the government have realised that ignoring covid doesn't make it go away.

it

Just seen this.

I’m not quite sure why they think parents would be terribly reassured when they are just going to replace isolation with a single PCR test!

Very true OP re the U turns. I’m sure August 31st at 11pm schools will be sent new ‘guidance’.

As school staff, it’s all very worrying. How vulnerable will we be!

@Appuskidu

Just seen this.

I’m not quite sure why they think parents would be terribly reassured when they are just going to replace isolation with a single PCR test!

It will be daily for a set number of days.

More worryingly most of the research was completed during the Alpha rather than Delta stage.

It will be daily for a set number of days

Has schools guidance changed or are you assuming it will, based on that research?

It's entirely redundant if children no longer have to isolate from 16th August as planned.

It's redundant as schools are no longer tracing close contacts and close contacts in school (e.g. sat next to positive child) don't count any more.

It would also be nonsensical as the government is now moving ahead with a plan to infect children with covid instead of vaccinating them, and anything that hinders infecting children gets in the way of that plan.

@Twoforthree

As school staff, it’s all very worrying. How vulnerable will we be!

Have you not had the vaccine?

I’m sure there will be a u-turn and revised guidance with very little notice.

@palacegirl77 have you seen how many people are getting COVID even when double jabbed?

@Appuskidu

It will be daily for a set number of days

Has schools guidance changed or are you assuming it will, based on that research?

Talking about that research. Government currently has no plans, hence title asking if anyone thinks they are preparing schools.

I'm unconvinced by that study. Firstly, the study sent people to the schools to supervise the tests. We know from PCR studies that HCP supervised tests are as accurate as those done by HCPs. We also know from various studies of LFTs that they are a lot more accurate when done by a HCP. It follows that supervised LFTs will be much more accurate than unsupervised and so the study is unlikely to translate well into real world results.

Secondly, the headline figure seems to be masking the fact that daily LFTs we're performing better than isolation until mid June and then started performing worse - I suspect the overall results would have been much worse if delta had been the dominant variant for the whole study.

2 tests when they go back secondary
Not sure if compulsory .

Think lft scrapped and they want to charge for them.

No masks
No social distancing

No bubbles.

No kids jabbed why is it adults have be double jabbed to stop transmission but kids don't.

I think if parent or sibling tests postive we still expected send other children to school until they test postive.
If freinds or people who sat close postive the rest remain in class until the postive.
Not sure daily testing is required for school.

Primary no testing or bubbles.
No isolating

Have you not had the vaccine?
Yes I’ve had the vaccine. Ok, so i probably won’t die, but I’ve had it before (caught at school) and been very ill. I don’t want to be that ill again, and there is a high chance, given the efficacy of AZ, that I’ll get it again!
Having said that, some school staff will die!

@ineedaholidaynow the vaccine only protects against severe symptoms not from catching covid.

There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about this.

Have you got a link to the pre-print, @QueenStromba?

@palacegirl77

Yes, I’ve had the vaccine - several months later than NHS staff, many of whom who worked from home doing office jobs. It enabled me to do my job without having a nervous breakdown worrying about being placed in an ICU on a ventilator. You see, I always knew that children were spreading Covid!

However…
a) the effectiveness of the vaccine may fail over time
b) having now been out more, I can see conditions in schools are considerably less safe than other workplaces I have seen, including supermarkets and restaurants
c) the vaccine doesn’t stop you getting Covid and you can still feel very sick
d) there doesn’t seem to be a plan to give teachers a booster in the autumn despite the very significant evidence now shows that schools are places where Covid spreads like wildfire and children do spread Covid very nicely. Parents are forgetting this as staff will not be available to work if they are sick.

I’d also add that teachers are throughly fed up of doing two people’s jobs (teaching online and in school). That needs sorting out, perhaps by providing funding for teachers who work with isolating children in each school. If this is the new normal, don’t expect people to keep giving for free.

[quote ineedaholidaynow]@palacegirl77 have you seen how many people are getting COVID even when double jabbed?[/quote]
Funny enough I had noticed yes. Mostly getting it mildly - not ending up in hospital. Ergo no worse than any other illness which you may catch. I think people have forgotten that its completely normal to get ill from time to time.

@Twoforthree

Have you not had the vaccine? Yes I’ve had the vaccine. Ok, so i probably won’t die, but I’ve had it before (caught at school) and been very ill. I don’t want to be that ill again, and there is a high chance, given the efficacy of AZ, that I’ll get it again! Having said that, some school staff will die!

So youve already had covid, and youre vaccinated? Seriously, you should be feeling very safe not scared.

Mild usually means not ending up in hospital, so can still knock you for six but be termed mild.