Employee News 2020, Issue 52 - COVID-19: Access to Testing For Staff in Schools and Early Years Settings

Guidance in relation to COVID-19 (coronavirus) testing has now been made available for those employees who work in a school or early years centre and this is set out below.  This guidance includes where testing is essential as well as arrangements for those employees who are concerned that they may have been exposed to COVID-19 and may consider accessing testing.
 

Symptomatic staff and close contacts

Be aware of the COVID-19 symptoms and understand what action is required if you or a close contact has them.  The key symptoms to be aware of are:  new continuous cough fever/high temperature loss of, or change in, sense of smell or taste If a staff member develops symptoms suggesting COVID-19 infection, they should self-isolate and book a test as soon as possible. This can either be done by:  Self-referral either online at NHSinform.scot/test-and-protect or by calling 0800 028 2816. Employer referral portal (which grants priority access) by contacting one of the following: Shona Diack, Wellbeing & Attendance Improvement Adviser Telephone: 0141 777 3311 Email: shona.diack@eastdunbarton.gov.uk OR HR Operations Team Telephone: 0141 574 5535 Email:  hrcaseadvisors@eastdunbarton.gov.uk OR Escalation point if above contacts are unavailable Mobile:  07825 753 813 It is essential that staff who have COVID-19 symptoms, or who share a household with someone who has symptoms, do not attend school, nursery or other childcare settings, and must self-isolate along with all members of their household, as per guidance on NHS Inform and from Test and Protect. Staff who are identified as a close contact of a confirmed COVID-19 case will be asked to self-isolate for 14 days.

Other Circumstances

Unless staff have COVID-19 symptoms or are advised to get a test by a healthcare professional, then testing is not a requirement. However, if members of staff are concerned that they have been at risk from infection, then they may request a test whether or not they have symptoms. The limitations of testing when a person does not have symptoms are set out in the Important Information Box at the end of this Employee News. Such staff should make the request via the employer referral portal by contacting:   Shona Diack, Wellbeing & Attendance Improvement Adviser Telephone: 0141 777 3311 Email: shona.diack@eastdunbarton.gov.uk OR HR Operations Team Telephone: 0141 574 5535 Email:  hrcaseadvisors@eastdunbarton.gov.uk OR Escalation point if previous two contacts are unavailable: Mobile:  07825 753 813

Procedures for Reporting

I’d like to remind employees of the protocols for reporting any coronavirus related symptoms or in the event that Test & Protect make contact with you. You must contact the undernoted as soon as possible:  

Contact
HR Operations Team Telephone: 0141 574 5535 Email:  hrcaseadvisors@eastdunbarton.gov.uk OR Escalation point if above unavailable: Mobile:  07825 753 813

Please ensure you that you are familiar with and follow this guidance on testing and that you also follow our reporting procedures.

Thank you

Ann Davie
Depute Chief Executive – Education, People & Business

Thursday 27 August 2020

COVID-19: Important information on testing people who do not have symptoms

COVID-19 has an incubation period of 2 to 14 days. This means that someone who is exposed to the virus, for example by having close contact with another person who is infectious, may take any time from 2 to 14 days to develop symptoms.

Through the NHS Test & Protect approach, people who are identified as close contacts are asked self-isolate for 14 days, in order to reduce the risk of spreading it to others if they themselves develop the infection. No testing is required unless symptoms develop or they are specifically advised to get tested by their NHS Health Protection Team or an NHS contact tracer.

School, early years and childcare members of staff who are concerned that they may have been exposed to infection may seek a test whether or not they have symptoms. However, before proceeding with a test without any symptoms, individuals should consider the pros and cons. If upon reading the information below, they decide to proceed with a test, their request will be granted via the employer referral portal.

Things to consider before requesting a test:

Some individuals, out of concern for their own health or that of others, seek a test even when they have no symptoms. This may give a sense of assurance but can be misleading and cannot exclude the possibility that the virus is present, or that the person may go on to be infected or to develop the illness.

The COVID-19 tests we use in Scotland work by detecting evidence of the virus in a person’s nose and throat sample (which is collected using a nasopharyngeal swab to collection secretions from the back of the throat and then the back of the nose). These tests cannot tell us whether or not someone is incubating the disease, but only if evidence of the virus is present at the time when they are tested.

This means that testing is a ‘single point in time assessment’ of whether a person may be infectious but it cannot tell us whether a person is going to become ill in the future. Therefore a negative result cannot reliably be used to inform individual risk or as the basis for reducing mitigations to reduce the risk of transmission such as hygiene and distancing.

Sometimes when the test is taken and returns a positive result, it needs to be repeated. Self-isolation must continue until the repeat result is available and further advice provided thereafter by your NHS team.

Individuals who are concerned they may have come into contact with an infected person, but are unsure about undertaking testing, also have the alternative option of approaching NHS Inform for further information.