Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Covid

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

To go to work with a positive test

165 replies

Pleaseletmesleepin · 13/03/2022 11:09

I am a teacher in a secondary school and the Head is very strict about attendance and the work piles up very quickly if you miss any time at all . Today I woke up with a sore throat and a cough . Did a test and it is positive. Technically I feel well enough to work and I am scared to phone in sick but it feels wrong to be so close to all of the pupils . Please help me with the right thing to do .

OP posts:
FairyCakeWings · 13/03/2022 12:57

You’ve done the right thing leaving the decision up to your boss. You’re well enough to work so it’s not at all as clear cut as some people think. In an ideal world, schools would have no problem covering absent teachers but in reality that’s not how it works. One teacher being away can have a huge ripple effect on colleagues and students and many of those students have more to lose from missing decent lessons than they do from the risk of being taught by someone who tested positive.

implantreplace · 13/03/2022 12:58

@Discodancinggiraffe

How is this a question still being asked after two years? You are positive you stay at home.
Crikey!

do your read / watch / listen to the news?

Boatingforthestars · 13/03/2022 12:58

No you don't need separate guidance, nut my employer asks us to stay away and pays us full pay to do so, so it would be silly not to. Ultimately the law states you don't need go isolate so it's upto you wether you chose to or not. Personally i believe its time to live with it

Watapalava · 13/03/2022 13:00

All the people clapping - you do realise the advice and guidance to stay at home with covid ends on 1st April

Testing ends yes but so does the guidance to stay home so best get used to it

It’s stay home til 1/4 then it’s exercise personal responsibility so employees and employers will no longer be able to stay off saying they’re following gov advice as that advice is less clear

Besides no one will know if they have it unles they pay for tests - even symptomatic people can’t get tests in 2 weeks

Equalbutdifferent · 13/03/2022 13:00

@Boatingforthestars

If there's no guidance from work and you are well enough to go in then go to work.

Everyone getting their knickers in a twist about it clearly don't understand the fact we have to live with this hence the government winding back restrictions. Living with this isn't going to look like staying off and testing all the bloody time.

If you had a cold would you stay off just incase someone had somebody vulnerable at home and it could kill them or just on the off-chance that the cold you have is just a mild version of the flu and everyone else might get it worse.

As it stands covid is just another illness that goes around at the moment and is killing no more people than anything else thanks to a combination of immunity and the strain weakening over time.

The law has changed; government guidance still says stay home. I appreciate this is a bit subtle for some. Hmm

a. Remove the legal requirement to self-isolate following a positive test. Adults and children who test positive will continue to be advised to stay at home and avoid contact with other people. After 5 days, they may choose to take a Lateral Flow Device (LFD) followed by another the next day - if both are negative, and they do not have a temperature, they can safely return to their normal routine.

Watapalava · 13/03/2022 13:00

flapping

Polyputthekettleon · 13/03/2022 13:03

If you are worried about backlash I would record your positive test on the website, and send in a screen shot of it and your photo of your positive result to the headteacher and explain you have tested positive and ask her what she wants you to do. Say you think you shouldn't go in and infect kids and colleagues but will come in if the head wants you to and you are feeling well enough. Put the onus on her if she has form for bullying

whynotwhatknot · 13/03/2022 13:04

My niece couldnt go to school for 3 days last week as two teachers were off with it and they had no cover

i cant see how its viable going forward but obviously theyre sticking to the rules for now-you tell your ht that youve tested positive and see what they say

Lilac57 · 13/03/2022 13:04

What is your school's policy on this? The guidance from the DfE is that you must isolate. Any headteacher failing to follow that guidance is opening themselves up to a Health and Safety at work lawsuit.

Lilac57 · 13/03/2022 13:05

And if you fail to follow the policy, whatever it is (it should be to isolate, as above), you could be dismissed for gross misconduct.

Thatsplentyjack · 13/03/2022 13:06

@Pleaseletmesleepin

She hasn’t issued any guidance. I am genuinely scared of the backlash of not going in .
Don't be so ridiculous.
Lilac57 · 13/03/2022 13:07

@Watapalava no, that's not correct. The guidance to isolate from the Department of Education is still in place.

Lilac57 · 13/03/2022 13:09

If the Head hasn't issued any guidance, you should do exactly what @Polyputthekettleon suggested. If there's an email trail, your Head cannot make you come into work.

Lilac57 · 13/03/2022 13:11

@whynotwhatknot, then I would suggest your niece's parents write to their MP, asking them to urge the government to purchase air filtration units for every classroom, as other countries have. That way the chances of your niece missing anymore education are reduced as far as reasonably possible. It would cost less than a new Royal yacht after all.

Threeboysandadog · 13/03/2022 13:11

Please don’t go in.

My son, who is exempt from wearing a mask, has chosen to wear one every day in school throughout the pandemic to protect his vulnerable dad. I would be really pissed off if he caught it from a teacher who knew they were positive before teaching him. His maths teacher is just back after more than a week off with Covid.

Covidwoes · 13/03/2022 13:12

@Pleaseletmesleepin, teacher here. Your head should have updated you all! DfE guidance is still to isolate for 5 days, and you can only come in when you have two consecutive lateral flows, 24h apart. Are you symptomatic? When I had it last half term, there's no way I could have gone in, as I felt too ill. I wouldn't want to work for someone who wanted staff in unless they were dying! Hmm

Wheresthebeach · 13/03/2022 13:15

How is this a question? No don't go in. You'll spread it around. There may be asthmatic kids, or kids with other health issues which means, despite Boris's propaganda it's not always just cold.

Lilac57 · 13/03/2022 13:19

@covidwoes, I can imagine why the Head hasn't updated their staff. They probably think everyone will stop testing if they stop reminding them Covid exists. It's a bit of a short-sighted stand to take, when it spreads and staff are off for weeks because they're actually ill, or can't work due to Long Covid. Teachers seem to be getting hit harder than others, possibly because high exposure leads to high viral loads, lots have been too ill to work for weeks at a time. One person isolating could prevent the spread to dozens of others. But regardless, isolation is still a Department of Education instruction, so in the absence of the school's own guidance, the government instruction is to isolate.

BitOutOfPractice · 13/03/2022 13:30

@MrsLargeEmbodied

you must have had guidance, unless you forgot it?
My DP (a teacher) had COVID last week. There was no guidance from the school. His line manager and the HT said it was "up to him" if he went in or not. No guidance whatsoever.
listsandbudgets · 13/03/2022 13:30

Depending on your feel can they set up remote teaching for you?

DD's history teacher had covid and the school set up a large screen in classroom and she taught the class via meets as in lockdown. They only did it for the GCSE years though as it was felt they'd missed so much already. Teacher was feeling quite well though - just covid positive with mild cold symptoms IYSWIM. The school sent an email saying they'd made reasonable adjustment to allow teaching to continue as well as possible.

The backlash if you DO go in and affect other staff and pupils is likely to be far worse surely.

BashfulClam · 13/03/2022 13:33

My husband has an autoimmune condition and I’d be raging if a colleague came to work with covid as I could potentially pass it onto him.

Covidwoes · 13/03/2022 13:34

@Lilac57 absolutely. It's the head (much like Boris), hoping it'll be forgotten about! I've got symptoms of long Covid since my second bout, but it hasn't been long enough to confirm. I'm dreading getting it again (a teacher I know has had it 3 times!).

Watapalava · 13/03/2022 13:35

Lilac

Which is what I said

The guidance from the DfE follows gov advice which currently is to isolate if you have covid

The gov have confirmed this advice will stop on 1/4 as will school advice I guarantee

implantreplace · 13/03/2022 13:36

@BashfulClam

My husband has an autoimmune condition and I’d be raging if a colleague came to work with covid as I could potentially pass it onto him.
Rage at the government then Not the colleague who is operating entirely within the law