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The increase in cases of the common cold could be giving a false picture of the spread of the coronavirus among children.
England Public Health Weekly coronavirus The report shows an increase of almost 23% in rhinovirus infections, which include the common cold, in the last week.
Among children ages five to 14 who returned to school since the beginning of this month, the infection rate skyrocketed by almost 80%.
The survey acknowledges that it “may explain some of the reported acute respiratory incidents.”
There were also large increases in NHS 111 calls for colds / flu and after-hours visits for flu-like illnesses.
Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) increased by 729 during the past seven days, including 193 cases in educational settings.
Of these, 110 had at least one linked case that tested positive for coronavirus, the report added.
On Friday, new daily confirmed cases of coronavirus It reached 4,322, the highest since May 8.
And with COVID-19 cases now doubling every seven to eight days, the government is considering introducing nationwide restrictions for a short period to try to “short circuit” the virus and slow the spread of the disease.
It comes when a teachers union survey found that more than four out of five schools report that their children cannot get a test or are waiting for test results.
The National Association of Directors of Education (NAHT) said that 82% of the 736 schools surveyed have children who are currently not attending because they cannot access a test to rule out the disease.
Furthermore, 87% have children who currently do not attend because they are waiting for their test results.
Almost half (45%) have staff outside of work because they cannot get an exam, while 60% have absent teachers waiting to find out if they have the disease.
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Almost all schools (94%) have children who have had to stay home for suspected or confirmed cases of coronavirus in this period.
More than three-quarters (78%) have staff who have had to isolate themselves since the period began earlier this month.
Paul Whiteman, NAHT Secretary General, said: “COVID-19 testing should be available to everyone so that students and staff who test negative can return to school quickly.
“But we are hearing the same thing repeatedly from our members across the country: the chaos is due to the inability of staff and families to be tested successfully when they show symptoms.
“This means that schools are struggling with staffing, children are missing school, and ultimately children’s education is being unnecessarily disrupted.”
