Thread by @LongCovidKids

1) "A change to the main list of #COVID19 symptoms is “in process” after months of inaction"@PHE_uk
"how can we expect families to know when to get their child tested, & when to stop sending them into school so that they then reduce
#longcovidkids
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2) the risk of transmission"
LCK would like to see the 🇬🇧 #COVID19 symptom list align with the @CDCgov 🇺🇸 list which includes the symptoms that our families have been reporting since LCK started.

A source who used to work for #testandtrace highlights

3) that clinical caseworkers were identifying trends in the variability of symptoms in kids as far back as a couple of months after the service went live in 2020.
Concerns were fed back continuously but the guidance about what symptoms
#TestToProtect
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4)should trigger the need for a test was never updated. Initially, it was felt that perhaps this was linked to test capacity but since that has been expanded they are surprised that the symptoms have never been updated or that there hasn’t been clearer public messaging on how

5) #COVID19 infection can present differently in those of different ages.
They wouldn’t be surprised if the presentation in those who have been vaccinated has also changed and that the cough, loss of sense of smell/taste and fever are no longer helpful as the only symptoms that

6) trigger testing (and have not been for some time). Equally knowing that they shouldn’t have ordered tests without one of these three symptoms people may have lied to tracers and they were advised not to advise contacts go for a test unless they were experiencing one of these

7) three symptoms even when there were other #COVID19 cases in the house and therefore it was highly likely that the child with the runny nose also had the infection.
Tracers collate all symptoms someone has experienced at the time of the call - at times when the system was

8)overwhelmed this may not have been until 5 days after symptoms started and there were definitely signs that children developed one of these three symptoms later in their illness. These were not differentiated in terms of onset and it was only through tracers reflecting on cases

9) together that different patterns emerged.

PLEASE CONSIDER SIGNING OUR PETITION
#longcovidkids #livingwithcovid
@SafeEdForAll_UK @ZeroCovAlliance @ResearchAidNet @LongCovidSOS @long_covid @ClaireHastie1 @maxwele2 @mdbuckle @LCKIreland
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