Isolation

[phoebeorpheobo]

Hi I have nc for this. I am a teacher and today I found out one of my pupils tested positive for covid, I last saw them Wednesday morning as they are in my form. They sit on the front row which is very close to my desk, I also went to them to point something out in their planner for a couple of minutes. They have told the school I was one of their close contacts but the school have said it is up to me to decide whether or not I isolate.
I don't know if I have done the right thing, what would you have decided? Will I be blamed for putting myself in the situation where I need to isolate?

Bump

A close contact would be:

a person who has had face-to-face contact (within one metre), with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, including:

being coughed on

having a face-to-face conversation within one metre

having skin-to-skin physical contact, or
contact within one metre for one minute or longer without face-to-face contact

a person who has been within 2 metres of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 for more than 15 minutes

a person who has travelled in a small vehicle with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 or in a large vehicle or plane near someone who has tested positive for COVID-19

I suppose they’ve left it up to you as only you know if you’ve done any of the above. As hard as it is, teachers are not supposed to do any of the above. However, if they haven’t sorted the desks for you (the front row should be 2m away) then that’s poor on their part.

It is totally shit that they have put you in this position, and I know it is happening in schools up and down the country with pressure being put on teachers to say ‘no, I wasn’t a close contact’ because of the need for cover staff.

If their desk is definitely less than 2m from yours and that is where you normally base yourself so you are sure it was more than 15 minutes then I would self-isolate on that basis and in your response point out that this is due to the positioning of the desks (their fault) rather than you breaking any rules.

The school should’ve contacted PHE who will tell them exactly what to do. You should absolutely isolate and it’s unfair of the school to ask you to make that decision. Your leaders need to tell you what to do, not put the onus on you.