A mum says she fears for her seven-year-old daughter’s education after a Government testing ‘shambles’ left her and hundreds of other children in a ‘Catch 22’ scenario.
Tracy Schonenberger’s daughter Megan is off school with a sore throat, a small cough and aching limbs – just one week after returning for the new school year, following five months away from the classroom in lockdown.
Current government guidelines mean she can’t go back to the classroom until she gets a negative coronavirus test result – but the desperate family has been unable to get one for four days now.
Thousands of families are believed to be stuck in the exact same impossible situation, with headteachers warning education will ‘grind to a halt’ over Autumn if more tests are not made available to pupils and teachers.
Speaking to 360aproko.com, Tracy, 40, from Braintree, Essex, says she has tried every method available to get a test, looking online at least six times a day.
She said: ‘We’ve tried everything but there are no tests anywhere. We’ve been ringing 119 but we were put on hold for hours every time.
‘We finally got through last night, but they just told us there are no tests available and to try again the next morning. We rang again today, only to be told there are still no home tests.
‘They’ve said there are no appointments in testing centres in the local area and there are no walk-ins. It’s been four days, we don’t really know what to do anymore.’
Megan came down with a sore throat, a cough and aching limbs at the weekend
Tracy has looked online to get a test every few hours (Picture: Tracy Schonenberger)
Meghan had only been back at school seven days before she came down with symptoms on Saturday.
Stay-at-home Tracy suspects her daughter only has a cold, but the family has been isolating in case it is Covid-19.
With new school guidelines set to remain in place indefinitely and Matt Hancock admitting the testing shortage will take ‘weeks’ to resolve, she is now questioning how much classroom time her daughter stands to lose out on.
The mum-of-three said: ‘She was only back seven days and was absolutely loving it. She had just started junior school so it was already a big change for her and now she can’t go back until she gets a negative test.
‘I just can’t even comprehend the idea that this might happen over and over again across the school year. I’m worried for her education.
My daughter has a cold & has been sent home from school, & canât return until she has a negative Covid test.There arenât any test sites available anywhere near me. Now the whole family have to isolate indefinitely
We haven’t been given any maths or English work for her to do. I’ve got some books at home from lockdown but I’m really concerned, what if this happens all year? How behind is she going to get?’
‘She felt anxious going back after months off. I didn’t want to worry her when she came down with cold symptoms so have tried to keep her as calm as possible by telling her she’s fine.’
She added: ‘Things have been so badly handled by the government. I don’t know why they can’t give schools more tests so they can be prepared for things like this.’
Figures from the Department of Health and Social Care released today say testing capacity stands at 374,917 per day across the UK – but numerous reports have suggested that tests are widely unavailable, with many people who do get them still forced to travel hundreds of miles to testing centres.
Tracy says she ‘can’t comprehend’ the idea that her daughter will lose more of her education.
