Nursery rejected DC because of Covid contact

[DinoRoar345]

DH has Covid. DS and I don’t (negative PCR and multiple LFTs). So I need to take DS to nursery and go to work. I said to nursery, if DS seems unwell please call me because he’s been exposed to Covid. And they said he can’t come in, please take him home!

Government policy is if you’re double jabbed or under 18 you do not have to isolate even if you’re a contact of someone with Covid. I need to go to work but now I have no childcare! Can I complain to council or Ofsted or something? I can’t stay off work for ten days when I don’t even have Covid.

And so if your DS then transmits Covid to other children and their families you will be fine with that? Nice
Tell the government not me. Those are the rules!

It doesn’t really matter what the ‘official rules’ are
Then what’s the point of having official rules if nobody follows them?

How will we ever get Covid under control when people like you want to spread it around without thought for anyone else ???
I don’t have Covid and neither does DS. Only DH has Covid and he’s isolating.

The British government guidelines are nuts
I agree, but the rules are the rules. The government has said my child can go to an educational setting and I can go to work, even if a household member has Covid. So I expect to be able to go.

They’re just following their own risk assessment. I think they’re being wise, government policy or not

Actually no OP they are guidelines not rules. Your child doesnt have to isolate that is correct. But neither do the Nursery have to accept him they should have a clear Covid policy of their own including a risk assessment.

You are conflating the concept that your child and you dont have to isolate with you should be allowed to go everywhere. But actually the Nursery are allowed to have their own policy as to ensure minimal spread within their setting.

Ask for your money back. Nursery can't charge for a service they are not providing.

@Gliderx

Ask for your money back. Nursery can't charge for a service they are not providing.

They can if that's their policy. My DS's nursery won't have children with hand, foot and mouth, who have had any fever in the last 48 hours or who started antibiotics in the last 48 hours - none of those are legal requirements (and the HFM goes against the NHS advice which is that there's no need to miss school or nursery because of it) but they're in their sickness policy and, like all their policies, we either accept it or look elsewhere for childcare. Same for their Covid policy, which says children can't come in if they have a household member with Covid.

I won’t be so honest next time!

How irresponsible.

The government rules aren’t really that relevant. It’s not the law to isolate for 48 hours after you throw up, but many nurseries will send a child home if they find out they’ve been brought in within that time frame.

I personally wouldn’t have an issue with a child at DD’s nursery being a covid contact, but I’d also follow whatever policies the nursery wanted to put in place, as I do with other illnesses.

If they try to charge, they can be reported to the CMA.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures/actions-for-early-years-and-childcare-providers-during-the-covid-19-pandemic

'The general principle is that providers should not charge parents or carers for services that cannot be provided. If there is a barrier to accessing childcare, based on government guidance or the law, the provider should not charge the parents or carers for this period.'

I agree with the nursery. I wouldn’t want them in either.

DH has been working away for the past two weeks, due home today. Last night one of the people he’s working with, from another company, tested positive for Covid. Everyone from DH’s company have been told to work from home for the next 10 days because they don’t want the risk of it sweeping through the offices. It’s common sense imo.

Don't tell them next time! That's what these policies end up creating. You did nothing wrong. I'd be furious.

Is it so hard OP to pull your head out of your arse and see it from their point of view?

How entitled of you to say to nursery “yeah keep an eye on him, if it’s ill may be covid” then effectively shrug about it.

You may need to do another PCR as it may have been too early to test if you or you ds had covid. Don’t rely on LFTs. But I bet you won’t 😉

You've learned a valuable lesson here, if ds has no obvious symptoms and tested negative, don't tell the nursery.
If we all did the same we'd be sahms with the way this pandemic is dragging on.

I can see where you're coming from but I can also see why the nursery are being cautious. If a few of the staff catch it you will be left without a nursery for a cpl of weeks and the nursery will still have to pay all staff and refund a good proportion of the parents. It's a difficult one to balance when most nurseries are very close to folding anyway. If they won't accept your little one tho you should receive a refund. Ask to see their Covid policy which they should have in place now and this will let you know how they currently deal with Covid.

One of DD's nursery friends tested positive earlier in the week and they closed for 2 days for a deep clean and to allow all contacts to get a PCR.

This was the advice of the council.

You can't be angry at them wanting to protect the children and staff in their care.

You've told them your child's been exposed to covid. What if another child there has a weakened immune system or lives with an elderly grandparent?

Everyone from DH’s company have been told to work from home for the next 10 days because they don’t want the risk of it sweeping through the offices
Lots of DH’s colleagues are refusing to get a PCR because they have plans and tickets so they don’t want to know if they’re positive. Apparently the employer can’t force them.

If they try to charge, they can be reported to the CMA
I presume they are still claiming the funded hours from the council.

You've learned a valuable lesson here, if ds has no obvious symptoms and tested negative, don't tell the nursery
Indeed. I never dreamed they wouldn’t be following government guidelines.

Dino Those are not the rules. Your Nursery has set their own rules according to their own risk assessment and you should respect that, almost certainly from bitter experience, they deem any child from a household with Covid in it is a risk to the others. Government policy is, as Maskless Johnson has made clear, a minimum, he actually said that they expected people to use their common sense about infection control, and for instance, in crowded indoor places to wear a mask. Similarly they have left it to educational settings to make their own rules depending on context. It is bonkers because clearly some people and indeed organisations have no common sense and don’t make decisions that would control the spread of infection.

Where have you been the last nearly two years? You seem to know nothing about the way the pandemic has spread (especially within households and in educational settings) or the realities of working parenthood. I just hope finding out the reality isn’t too painful for you and others……

What if another child there has a weakened immune system or lives with an elderly grandparent?
I presume it isn’t an issue otherwise government guidance would be for household contacts to isolate. And that’s not what they recommend.

@DinoRoar345

What if another child there has a weakened immune system or lives with an elderly grandparent? I presume it isn’t an issue otherwise government guidance would be for household contacts to isolate. And that’s not what they recommend.

No. The government care about making sure the NHS isn't overwhelmed and that the economy keeps going. That's why we don't need to isolate anymore.

Your morals are all wrong if you have no argument other than 'but the government says' because they also have no morals.

Your morals are all wrong if you have no argument other than 'but the government says' because they also have no morals
Well I assume the government has analysed the situation thoroughly and come to the informed conclusion that it’s not necessary for household contacts to isolate. So I don’t think it’s reasonable for individual organisations to override that, because no way are they more informed about the situation than the actual government is.

@DinoRoar345 their responsibility is to the children in their care.

You don't want your child to stay home because you don't want him to catch covid.

I'm sure you would be very unhappy if your child caught Covid from somebody at the nursery and ended up on a ventilator.

Stop being so narrow-minded.

You're not the priority here.

If it’s risky for a child with a household contact to attend an educational setting then why has the government said it’s permitted? 🤷‍♀️

You sound very entitled. I'm not the first person mentioning that either. Maybe you need to think if you might be in the wrong here morally speaking.

Government rules are the minimum rules that are necessary to prevent a NHS collaps. Organizations and individuals are withing their right to impose extra rules.

@DinoRoar345

If it’s risky for a child with a household contact to attend an educational setting then why has the government said it’s permitted? 🤷‍♀️

So that adults can still go to work. That's it. It's that simple.

Most people will be fine. They need people to be back at work.

Why do you think you're more important than anyone else?

Oh dear…

@DinoRoar345

If it’s risky for a child with a household contact to attend an educational setting then why has the government said it’s permitted? 🤷‍♀️

Honestly, Watching people try to explain common sense to You is like watching them talk to a pound of mince.

How on earth do You not get it?