Do you have questions about Covid-19 and return to school testing? Ask Dr Amir Khan

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Why is it important for high school children to do a test but not primary school kids? Surely they are just as infectious as each other?

How often do they need test?

Is it best for schools to close again for a circuit breaker or better to return and enforce testing?

Why have the guidelines dropped back to one test in school? It was 2, if not 3, tests in the previous rounds of these mass testings.

How much does it cost England per week to provide these free tests?

What will a school do if a parent doesn’t give consent for their child to be tested?
(I am very happy for my child to be tested, but I have a family member who will not give consent for their children to be tested)

Why isn't there staggered testing as there was last March? It seems crazy to get all the children back into school mixing with each other, then test them sometime on the first day. Anybody with Covid could already have spread it to the rest of them by then! Plus lot to use public transport, again possibly spreading it to people there before they realise that they have Covid

My Son's Secondary school is opening a day early for testing only. Year groups are given time slots to go in.
My Son has sensory issues and finds taking a test difficult especially if he's around others and out of his comfort zone.
Can I just send him to school on the first day back of teaching after having done a LFT at home?

What do you think about children being allowed into school whilst awaiting test results ?

Do you honestly think the majority will do this? More than 50% opted out of vaccines at my school. They're definitely not all testing judging by the number of kits left behind in school.

Do you hold Us4Them in any way responsible for resistance to testing and vaccination in the school-age population?

Do you genuinely believe that people will test the child, rather than either doing the test themselves, just adding the buffer to get a result if a picture is required, or just saying that they did a test and it was negative?

I wish I could have more faith in people, but I don't see the majority doing this properly.

Hi Dr Khan, you have been very vocal in challenging the government about the lack of mitigation measures in schools, and thank you for that.

How effective do you think this plan to test pupils will be at minimising the spread of covid in the absence of any other new measures, and is there anything you think should be put in place in schools in January in addition to this?

Hi Dr Khan. Thank you for being vocal about the absence of mitigations in schools.

Two part question: do you have any advice as to anything teachers could actually do to keep themselves and their students safe in the classroom come January? Second part: what is your opinion on the safety and ethics of encouraging pensioners to go into classrooms at this time?

Thank you.

Hello.

I’m a retired teacher of Mathematics with particular expertise in teaching Maths to students with dyslexia/dyscalculia and a track record of significantly good results both among such students and others without difficulties. I love being in the classroom interacting with students and miss it. I had always envisaged supply teaching as an option after retirement.
My own adult children have asked me not to consider teaching in schools at present, as they are not safe. They would like me to be around for a number of years for the sake of my grandchildren.
What should I say to them to persuade them to have confidence that I would be safe if teaching in a school from January?

Please could you clarify the rules on testing after a positive covid test? The NHS and government website say that you shouldn't test again within 90 days of a positive PCR unless you have new symptoms. But Test & Trace are telling people not to test again at all within 90 days.

My understanding is that after a positive test secondary school children don't need to do regular LFTs for 90 days but should get a PCR for any covid symptoms. Is that correct?

How can we be sure that tests are carried out properly? I’m a teacher and I have had to supervise 30 children all doing a test at once. There is no way I can ensure each person does it properly.
It seems like lip-service to try to claim schools are safe.

What should I say to them to persuade them to have confidence that I would be safe if teaching in a school from January?

Great question.

Secondary

How can we be sure LF tests keep kids covid safe when my daughter caught covid from school and hasn't once tested positive by LF test? She's pcr positive and isolating for Xmas

Are the LFT tests accurate enough to be effective in combatting the spread of the virus?

Why are primary school aged children not being asked to do the same? We've been testing our 5 year old too, and there have been cases in her class?

Why has the government refused to do anything to make schools safer, simply asking us to test after it is too late and out kids are already infected?