Covid testing | Schools Week

Schools fear closures amid Covid testing kit delays

8% of schools reported having staff unable to attend due to a lack of Covid tests

Covid close contact daily testing brought back for schools

Pupils aged five and above will be expected to take tests for a week under new national approach

Schools left waiting for thousands of home Covid tests for pupils

Schools have been left waiting for thousands of home Covid tests, prompting warnings the government is “undermining” its own testing regime. Pupils returning to secondary schools from March 8 were expected to undergo three tests on site before doing twice weekly tests at home. Education secretary Gavin Williamson said the tests, which are meant to […]

Consent for school Covid testing trial questioned

The Department for Education has been alerted to potential ethics issues with its Covid testing trial in schools. More than 170 schools and colleges are taking part in the scheme in which close contacts of positive Covid cases can stay in the classroom if they test negative after daily rapid tests. Currently close contacts have […]

Reopening schools: DfE’s ‘illogical’ Covid testing policy puts pupils in isolation

The government’s “nonsensical” Covid testing policy that pupils tested on-site must self-isolate without taking confirmatory lab tests has seen youngsters needlessly kept off school after being sent home within hours of returning. Parents warn they will no longer consent to their children being tested due to the disruption, which they blame squarely on the government. […]

Government ‘flying blind’ over Covid tests for pupils

Schools have been placed in an “impossibly difficult position” as the government restricts Covid tests to those with “classic symptoms”, despite research indicating children are more likely to show other signs. Government guidance states the main symptoms of coronavirus are a high temperature, a new, continuous cough and a loss or change to your smell […]