Covid-19: False test results ‘ruining’ return to school

The government’s refusal to let pupils have follow-up tests to confirm positive Covid results is “ruining” their return to school, parents say.

They are reporting cases of families having to isolate after a child tests positive at school – even though more reliable tests show a negative result.

The rapid-testing policy does not allow lab-based PCR tests to overrule these.

But experts have criticised the policy, saying the risk of “false positives” among the rapid tests is high.

Because infection rates are so low the Royal Statistical Society believes more of the positive results this week could be wrong than right.

Pupils at secondary schools – of which there are around four million – are being offered three lateral-flow tests following their return to school.

These tests can provide results on the spot but are less accurate than the standard Covid test, which gets sent to labs to be processed.

The false-positive rate is low – estimates have put it around 0.1% to 0.3% – but given the numbers being offered the test, thousands of pupils could be incorrectly told they are infected.

But they have no right to get it checked by a PCR test, meaning those pupils, their families and any close contacts they have will need to isolate at home.

The situation will change after next week when pupils will be asked to do the tests at home – and any testing positive will need to follow it up with a PCR test.

The children of Rachael Stewart, from Oxfordshire, have fallen foul of the policy. Her 16-year-old son tested positive via the rapid test done at school and he and his two younger sisters are having to isolate.

“We immediately got a PCR test done – I use these rapid tests for work and that is what we do. It came back negative, but we were told they still had to isolate. It is so upsetting for them.

“They have already been out of school for two months and now to miss more when there is no reason for it is incredibly frustrating and upsetting. It has ruined the return to school.

“I support the idea of testing but I have withdrawn consent for any more testing at school.”

Rachel Clarke, an NHS doctor, is another person who has been affected.

She said her son and 30 other pupils are out of school after one tested positive with a lateral-flow test, despite a PCR test later confirming the individual was negative.

“You really, really couldn’t make this up,” she said in a tweet.

“The idea of entire classes of children being kept out of school for 10 days due to one false positive test is awful.”

Their concerns are being echoed by experts in the field.

Sunil Bhopal, an expert in child health at Newcastle University, said the policy was wrong, saying it smacked of a government that was not putting prioritising children enough.

He said: “It is so painful what happens when children are put last. It is a recurring theme of the pandemic response.”