[katieHaylor (OP)]

Francis says:

Given the massive uncertainty, ambiguity/lack of clarity there always seems to be about the levels of Covid-19 infection among school children, and now that test capacity is around 100,000 tests per day, why doesn't SAGE conduct a statistically credible sample test of swabs on children to find out the likely % of kids that are asymptomatic BEFORE sending them back to school?

What do you think?

[alancalverd]

A positive antibody test tells you that the asymptomatic subject is either infectious or possibly immune. A negative test says he is liable to become infected. Now what?   

If you only allow positives into the school, you are making education a reward for incompetent parenting, or a consolation for parents who were exposed in the execution of essential services. But many schools have continued to accept the latter, so it's a reward for the former.

If you only allow negatives into the school, you may be denying education to the kids who need it most.

As I see it, you can't compromise with this beast. Until there have been no new cases for two weeks, we must assume that anyone can be a carrier and everyone is vulnerable, so one infectious kid in a school could be enough to precipitate the next wave of infection throughout the country..

[Petrochemicals]

No, you could run the tests, providing that all children where isolated entirely none where about to become infected, their parents where also isolated and you left it 3 weeks whilst repeatedly testing. But given that people are not 100 percent isolated, children are going to school as a way of state childcare (primary first as they really need to know how to socialise) and childrens predisposition for licking things and putting them up their noses, its really a running joke among teachers (so I have been told). Well at least this time someone will really have the lurgy !