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

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Created for the Government

Parents of secondary school and college students are being asked to remind their children to do a COVID-19 test before returning to the classroom, to help reduce the spread of the virus. Dr Amir Khan is here to answer your questions.

• Everyone who shares a question below by 30 December will be eligible for a prize draw
• One lucky Mumsnet user will win a £200 Amazon voucher
• Dr Amir Khan will be back online to answer a selection of your questions.

About Dr Amir Khan:

“Dr Amir Khan is an NHS Doctor, GP, and best-selling author. Dr Amir is a frequent face on ‘Good Morning Britain’ and ‘Lorraine’.”

Here’s what the Government has to say:

“Following the Christmas break children will be heading back to school - but we really want to help keep Covid-19 out of the classroom. The Omicron variant is highly infectious and continuing to spread fast, which means we need to do more to help stop the spread. So, parents of secondary and college aged students are being asked to remind their children to take a rapid lateral flow test before they come back to the classroom after the Christmas holidays. If your child is at secondary school, they will be asked to do a test at school and then continue testing at home. If your child is at college they should continue to test at home and register results online. You may be feeling unsure about why testing is important, where to get your tests from or how to ensure your children are keeping themselves and their friends safe. So, this week GP Dr Amir Khan will be here on Mumsnet answering any questions you have about children's return to school after the holidays."

Please note that Dr Amir will not be able to respond to questions asking for specific or personal medical advice. If you are worried about a personal health issue, please contact your GP.

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ

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Vaccine for 12-15 yr olds

Neither of my children are vaccinated yet as they've both had Covid over Nov/Dec. Have now been told to wait 12weeks! Really concerned they will now get Covid again with omicron variant around as it's spreading around all their peers.

How will I ever get them vaccinated?
Why do they have to wait until spring?

Media banging on about pushing final groups through first vaccination but 1000s of young people are being told NOT to get vaccinated yet.

It's so confusing.

How long do you expect the booster to last before another dose would be required ?

Do you expect any further mutations to be milder, reports suggest Omicron is a milder compared to Delta ?

Where is a more effective swap obtained, back of the throat, or up a nostril - I have received home tests which require a nasal swab, but have also seen throat swabs being done.

The spokesperson from the WHO made a valid point recently, yes. we might be boosting ourselves from the NEXT variant of COVID, but if third world countries are not keeping up with vaccinations, we will be in a vicious circle of COVID in one form or another for several years - do you think this is valid - or will a generic booster ALWAYS give us some form or protection.

Does the test indicate if we have done the swab correctly and have enough mucus to test - it will it give a negative if we do not swab correctly anyway ? I worry DS1 and 2 do not swab well enough to absorb enough mucus ?

Are tests made well enough to pick up small amounts of virus and variants ? My worry is if a variant is so different it will not be picked up, and as the common cold is part of the corona virus 'family' will that show as a positive ?

Can you get Covid more than once ? If so will you show no symptoms and just keep testing.

How would you explain to a 12 year old who has tested positive, but has NO symptoms that he does indeed have COVID, he has done 3 test (one per day) and still gets 2 lines, he has no symptoms.

My son has a really sore nose from all of the testing (I think he is being far too rigorous with the swab) is the test at the back of the throat still as effective, while he give his nose time to heal.

What mitigations should we call for in primary schools?

I have heard of antiviral tablets for Covid on the horizon, will these replace or supplement the vaccine ?

Should Primary schools be encouraging parents to test their children before returning to school in January?

Our school advise that children get tests if they have the ‘3 classic symptoms’ otherwise they must be in school. Why has government decided not to update the info on the symptoms, and if my child is sneezing or has a headache (pre-Covid would have sent them to school) what should I do?

Dd's school are sending them into school for testing. What's the difference between this and doing a lat flow at home and recording the result?

I am worried about getting enough tests especially as due back next week. I have heard that LFTs are not picking up the new variant either?

Only about 15% of our pupils have consented to testing. How does that make schools safe?

We have been testing regularly, the nasal swab method, the last 2 tests had no lines appearing - I could make out a very feint line showing a negative - but only when held under a light, Could the tests be faulty - what could I be doing wrong to get no lines at all ?

Where can I get tests from, there seems to be a shortage in my area?

@OneMillionSteps

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)

Nothing, none of my kids do Covid tests unless they have symptoms and both schools are fine with it

@BeautifulTulips

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 isn't returning to full time school until the 13th of January because his school is doing staggered testing, an absolutely disgraceful thing in my opinion as he's already missed so much school, most kids at school have already had Covid and as we all know it's not a danger to kids ! Education is too important to miss

Why do you think testing healthy kids who aren't at risk from Covid is more important than their education? My child isn't going back to school until the 13th of January it's a disgrace how much school they have missed

@NewModelArmyMayhem18

Oh, and on the subject of secondary school pupils wearing masks, I have it on good authority that a lot wear the 'disposable' ones for days on end!

I've seen any number of adults wearing the same filthy thing. And to be honest, plenty of people will be wearing the same cloth one far too many times before it sees the inside of a washing machine - if at all.

In any case, mask wearing in Scottish secondary schools has been the case throughout and it's done nothing to help infection rates there. Absolutely nothing.

I am testing positive for covid with mild symptoms. Does this mean I can now go there to look after my son who has covid and is fairly poorly. He has been isolating with his dad (my ex) who is currently looking after him but ex says he could do with a rest. Basically my question is this - if I expose myself to more covid (my son’s and ex’s) will my mild symptoms get worse (will I get double covid?) thanks

@rrhuth

Why did the government leave it so late to vaccinate children, and how many more positive tests will there be in schools as a result?

Because according to the JCVI kids are more at risk from the vaccine than from Covid