Siblings to isolate when PCR positive

[Backofbeyond50]

We have been advised that PHE have requested dc to isolate when a sibling tests positive.
Just wondering how widespread this requirement is. We definitely have lots of cases in Secondary School.

Well it makes sense, doesn't it?
I can't believe it was ever the case that siblings were told to carry on as usual. Insane.

Yesterday, Ds(16) tested positive with 2 x LFT, had a PCR in the evening, not had results yet. I thought the advice was that double jabbed and under 18’s could go to work/school etc. Was going to send dd (13) in school Tuesday (off tomorrow as gas leak in school). I will speak to the school tomorrow.
When did this new advice come out?

I was only going to send her in as it was government advice but it certainly doesn’t make sense.

I wouldn't trust "government advice" on crossing the road, let alone Covid management.
Trust your gut.

@CallmeHendricks

I wouldn't trust "government advice" on crossing the road, let alone Covid management. Trust your gut.

Too true. Has been a royal cockup from the beginning.

I think it makes sense too. @Thedishwasherstacker my understanding is that the advice varies depending on prevalence in individual school. We were advised on Friday Evening.

So, it seems that the advice is to isolate siblings if the infection rate is already high, but not to prevent it from getting high in the fist place.

I think the guidance is assuming any positive cases are fully isolating from the rest of the household as per that guidance. We’re not doing that so none of my DC are going to school even though the negative one can

Some local public health authorities imposed this rule a few weeks ago. It makes sense!

@JanglyBeads yes I think you are right. Local public health rather than PHE.

We have one positive case, the other dc will be going to school if they remain symptom free. They've had 2 PCRs now. Other families have been doing the same, and I've been told to go to work.

This makes a lot of sense if we are still trying to stop / limit infections.

Every single case we have at school can be linked to children coming in with household contacts positive at home.

Of course, if we just want everyone to catch it, we should let household contacts continue to come to school. But in that case we can probably do away with 10 days isolation for positive cases too, hey?

@CallmeHendricks

Well it makes sense, doesn't it? I can't believe it was ever the case that siblings were told to carry on as usual. Insane.

I don't agree that is necessarily makes sense. Me and my DS2 got it recently, but DS1 and DH did not get it. If I'd kept DS1 off school then he would have missed 11 days of school for nothing as he didn't get it which we confirmed with 2 PCR's and daily LFT. If my DH gets it at a later date should DS1 then have to isolate again? What if he then goes on to get it himself after his second isolation? In total he would miss nearly a month off school. I would say do daily LFT and carry on sending your child in unless local PH advice says otherwise. It was a LFT that picked up that DS2 had caught it from me. They definitely work.

Track and trace literally told my friend today her other children can go to school and her and her husband are free to go to work our school guidelines are still saying come in unless your pcr is positive

Not sure if National Test and Trace advise on local recommendations or not actually!

This had been the requirement in my local authority for the last couple of weeks. Cases are very high here. We've had to take asymptomatic DC for a PCR this afternoon. School emailed this morning to say that cases in DC's class had reached a critical figure and every child was to go for a PCR as soon as possible.

It depends where you live @Theunamedcat. It is some local authorities that are stating siblings cannot attend school. For example:

www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/pdf/covid-19/letter-to-parents-and-carers-12-oct-2021.pdf

@TreeLawney, it's a tricky one isn't it... what is the overall strategy informing this approach? As things stand it's just delaying the inevitable. There is nothing coming down the line that will stop my primary age DC catching it.

This would be such a sensible policy.

I can’t imagine our government will adopt it on a national scale until about January though, when things are really properly awful everywhere!!

@LemonCake79 yes exactly. I’m feeling particularly bitter atm because 2dc & I are all Covid positive - can directly link it back to a child with a positive sibling coming in to school. I don’t blame them or their family, they were following the rules, but, having washed our hands and worn masks and kept our distance for 20 months, clearly there was nothing we could do here to avoid catching it. All I keep hearing is well everyone has to get it in the end, we’re living with it now. In which case I’m not sure why I’m keeping my totally asymptomatic dc locked in the house for 10 days. Might as well send them out to help other people live with it too. (Mostly tongue in cheek!)

We have also been told this today by our secondary school. 'Public Health' now require siblings of children who test positive to isolate for 10 days. It's not clear from what we've received if that is local public health authorities. Also, I would have thought they would require children to isolate if any household member tests positive, but it doesn't say that.

This is starting to impact on Christmas plans for us. I'm already thinking that if cases are going to be really high, is it sensible to spend the day with vulnerable, elderly family members? One of our extended family recently caught covid despite being triple jabbed and is feeling rough, apparently.

Yes it will be local PH authorities, they have slightly more leeway now to take their own measures.

DS's school have said that due to the cases of PCR's coming back negative after a positive LFT, they're now to isolate for ten days after a positive LFT regardless of the PCR result.

Nothing specific about siblings isolating, although it did say that the rules around close contact with a positive case haven't changed- carry on with school etc as long as you have no symptoms.

We haven’t had this

Our school have had this over a month as cases were super high. After half term we are going back to national guidance as cases have fallen sharply (or more likely that most kids have had it now )

@TreeLawney, sorry to hear you're all in isolation. It's hard going, half of DS's class was off a few weeks back and only one child was poorly and that was a mild temperature for about a day. The others were asymptomatic or had a slight runny nose.

Obviously I'm pleased no one was really unwell but it does raise the question where we are going with this because they can't keep missing school when they are well enough to be in in the long term.

I also worry that the more rules and isolations above national requirements that are introduced the less likely some parents are to test children either as contacts or with very mild symptoms, especially where they will have to take unpaid leave. The whole thing is so complicated.