Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:12 pm on 15 September 2020.
Laura Anne makes a very relevant point. At this time of year, at the start of an academic year, as a mum Laura, you well know the absolute inevitability of the cold; it is a truth like death and taxes that you will get that cold. But because of the heightened awareness, quite understandably, people are very, very anxious and it is understandable why, then, perhaps a member of staff may say, 'No, this child has to go home.'
I would refer you to a video that we have been circulating that has been done by Dr Heather Payne, who is the chief adviser on child health to the Government, explaining just this, about when it's appropriate for a child to be tested and that the symptoms of a common cold are different. We're looking to work across education and health to do extra webinars for teachers and headteachers, where they can hear directly from health professionals to give them the extra confidence that they need in helping them make these decisions, and that is being arranged as we speak. We're trying to get those messages out.
But, clearly, access to testing does need to improve to be able to minimise disruption where a child could have one of the nasties that you have at this time of year, but it is not COVID and therefore, if they were well enough in themselves, they could be in school. But that's one of the wicked problems that we face returning to school at this particular juncture in the year; it's one of the challenges we're going to have to overcome. Thank you.