Would you send DS2 to school if DS 1 is positive?

[Kara198]

Just had positive lateral flow for my 5yo, heading to pcr test centre shortly. My 3yo is testing negative so would you send him to preschool as normal next week?

[quote LadyPenelope68]@Spacerader
Why would so many keep the child home. The guidance clearly states that they don't have to isolate. Send them in if they are well.
Maybe because a lot of posters have better morals than you and would not want to risk passing on the virus to adults/children at the education setting.[/quote]
I guess I lack morals then 🤷‍♀️ what a shit human I am for following guidance.

As someone who works in education I am well aware of the risks and I still firmly believe children belong in the classroom if they are well enough to.

Honestly I wish people would get off thier high horse. You can't preach that people follow the rules without fault one minute but then claim we are mortally corrupt and making a mess when the rules don't fit your ideals.

Every individual can make thier own decision, and if you choose to keep your child home so be it. But don't bash people for following the rules and wanting thier child to be in school.

Keeping children home won't achieve anything, unfortunately at some point we are all going to catch it. But what do I know I'm just morally inept and creating a mess.

@MzHz

Because this kid WILL get it. Perhaps a day or so behind, but he’s going to get it and it would run rife through nursery.

And most of the kids in the nursery WILL still get Covid irrespective of whether he goes in, you're just delaying things. You're not ultimately preventing anything!

Yes, of course. As per the current guidance.

Today 12:50 BonnieGoWayward

Yes, of course. As per the current guidance.“

He’s tested positive on PCR.

There’s guidance, then there’s common sense. Pcr tests come back in a day atm. Why risk others for the sake of a day? The child is 3, OP is at home. Hardly going to cause long-term damage to education.

Why on Earth do people continue to think that household isolation is somehow going to any more than delay the inevitable?... As though if every household isolated that would enough to stop the pandemic in its tracks, when NZ has shown that even a very strict lockdown can't stop Delta even when they locked down after just one case!

It's just sanctimonious wishful thinking...

Sending your child in when another has it, doesn't prevent anything, just delay it.

Household transmission is far from a given. Has happened in only 1 of the 50 billion cases in my dc's schools so far. I think the covid cautious should be informed of cases and then they can chose to stay at home.

Why risk others for the sake of a day?

Don't be so ridiculous.

It's not going anywhere, EVER. This is it now.

Every single person on the planet will probably have had it at least once by 2025.

They're waiting for it to become endemic now. The aim is clearly to let it spread freely among children to help us get there, hence the current lack of isolation rules.

Have a vaccine if you want one, wear a mask if you want to, keep isolating and social distancing if you choose to.

The rest of us just want to get on with it. I wouldn't force my dc to isolate over and above the current guidelines because it's pointless and detrimental only to them.

Covid is not a tummy bug, covid is not the flu, the death and disability rate is far far higher. In terms of consequence, it's far closer to all the very nasty diseases we've eradicated via vaccination.

We've lived through a period when permanent illness as a result of childhood or even adulthood communicable disease has been massively, massively reduced. But in terms of human history, this is an anomaly.

The attitude to covid 'we have to live with it' (which always means doing whatever's convenient in the short term) fails to recognise the fact that for diseases like this, saying that is consigning a lot of people to lifelong disability.

Because the UK is behaving so differently to Europe and most other similar countries, our rates of covid are far higher and we will have a much higher burden of disability as a result that will be difficult if not impossible for the NHS to cope with. A&Es are close to being overwhelmed right now as it is. GPs and other medical staff leaving in droves.

I can't believe people are willing to spread this disease and do this to our country and our health service for the sake of keeping a child home for 10 days. If one of my kids tests positive, the other will stay home.

Theemperor - and that's fine, you have that choice. I will be abiding by government guidelines which allow me to try and minimize disruption to my children's education to which they are entitled (and, we spread it to no-one as most people I know who have abided by the rules have managed to do).

Ten days is massive for kids as well by the way. Every day of school they miss affects their life chances.

What about the kids with long covid? Many of whom who've been ill for a year or more? I'd suggest anyone who thinks 10 days is a long time should listen to last week's Indie sage meeting with children who have had long covid for a very long time. It's heartbreaking what they've suffered.

@theemperorhasnoclothes

What about the kids with long covid? Many of whom who've been ill for a year or more? I'd suggest anyone who thinks 10 days is a long time should listen to last week's Indie sage meeting with children who have had long covid for a very long time. It's heartbreaking what they've suffered.

I feel for them.

But I also feel for my children .

And…. I’m going to prioritise my children who test negative rather than not send in a negative child on the chance they spread it despite the negative test to another child who gets Covid and then long Covid.

So if it’s just going to spread, we’re all going to get it etc etc, then why are we bothering isolating positive dc at all? If they’re feeling well enough to be at school, why do they need to stay home for 10 days?

My dc is + atm, completely asymptomatic. Only tested as a close contact. But stuck at home now missing school for 10 days. If stopping the spread doesn’t matter anymore (which sending siblings in to school with household cases at home suggests) why do we need to isolate the Covid positive well?

@TreeLawney

So if it’s just going to spread, we’re all going to get it etc etc, then why are we bothering isolating positive dc at all? If they’re feeling well enough to be at school, why do they need to stay home for 10 days?

My dc is + atm, completely asymptomatic. Only tested as a close contact. But stuck at home now missing school for 10 days. If stopping the spread doesn’t matter anymore (which sending siblings in to school with household cases at home suggests) why do we need to isolate the Covid positive well?

Because there is less chance of a positive child spreading Than a negative sibling

Yes the negative sibling has increased chance of spreading it over a child with no positive sibling.

But it is a probability game. I am NOT not sending in a negative sibling until told otherwise.

There’s also negative siblings (PCR tested, tested LFT regularly, PCR on day 5etc) and negative siblings (not PCR tested) too. Depends how thorough people are being. Also age of child. 15 & 16 year olds might not go near each other much, 3& 4 year olds rolling round the floor together.

My colleague worked from home when one of her sons and husband had it and tbh even tho technically she was allowed to come in I am grateful she didn't. In your situation I'd keep at home

The NHS is under critical pressure. If people can take simple steps to reduce the amount of covid spread through this winter, then it seems logical. That way surgeries aren't cancelled, people get to go to their appointments.

We did LFT and sent sibling in

I had symptoms so did PCR which came back negative anyway as did dh’s. Even without any isolation it didn’t spread in the house

@OhYouBadBadKitten

The NHS is under critical pressure. If people can take simple steps to reduce the amount of covid spread through this winter, then it seems logical. That way surgeries aren't cancelled, people get to go to their appointments.

I don’t regard my negative child isolating for 10 days as a “simple step”

Interesting debate and really can see it from both sides.
Ds has no symptoms and is very disappointed to be at home and missing the last week of school before half term. I feel really bad on him.
Me and DH have both discussed it with work and they still want us to go into our offices as normal so we will tag team annual leave and continue to lateral flow ourselves and hope for the best. I'm sure some of our colleagues won't be impressed though!

We have to stop punishing kids. They have been bashed to fuck during this pandemic by society. 10 days out of school for a child that is healthy is INSANE.

@pommedeterre

We have to stop punishing kids. They have been bashed to fuck during this pandemic by society. 10 days out of school for a child that is healthy is INSANE.

Bit over the top.

My kids have found it very difficult, and school closures were dreadful (sadly necessary pre-vaccines) but I think when there is a confirmed infection in the family it is sensible to avoid spreading it further.

But you can avoid spreading it further by following government guidelines. None of us got it from dd1 and none of us spread it to anyone else.

So keeping my kids off would have been crazy.

Not over the top.

Given about half dc had had it a few weeks ago - Chris Whitty - it must be much higher by now, so a lot of immunity meaning siblings not as likely to spread it.

None of us got it recently when Ds did which surprised me, but maybe we’ve had it asymptomatically already.

So I agree with Pomme

@pommedeterre

We have to stop punishing kids. They have been bashed to fuck during this pandemic by society. 10 days out of school for a child that is healthy is INSANE.

But it's punishing kids MORE by letting it run riot, because they don't live in a vacuum.

Even if you don't discuss the 10 avoidable deaths of kids in September, or the many thousand whose lives and education will be disrupted far beyond 10 days when they have long covid.

Even if you only look at the effect on the number of teachers, or just in terms of disrupted education, letting it rip is TERRIBLE for kids wellbeing and education.

My daughter had to sit and watch a movie one afternoon last week as they just didn't have enough teachers. Lots of supply teachers, kids off with covid then coming back and not knowing what's going on so the teacher has to go over the same thing again and again.

It has been shown recently that proper ventilation could hugely reduce transmission indoors and yet schools don't have the CO2 monitors or air filters that would ensure this mitigation that would benefit kids education (and the evidence shows that proper ventilation improves educational achievement too).

But let's all carry on and throw our kids under the bus.