Hi drummer-45,

It is understandably unsettling times at the moment - I'm sure you've seen by now the new measures to be put in place regarding school closures, so I am assuming this answers your question.

We have a dedicated page on our website about coronavirus and cancer, which you can find here and may be helpful if you have additional questions.

Wishing you all the best,

Ben
Cancer Chat Moderator

I too am a teacher. My wife has stage 3 breast cancer and has just had her fourth round of seven.

Thankfully because my Deputy Headteacher is understanding she's allowed me to self isolate (signed off sick for the time being), and I withdrew both my children from school.

However, my wife will remain vulnerable for some months yet, and I'm not sure how long I'll be able to stay off work.

Contrary to the moderator advice below, school closures is not the answer to our problem as teachers are required to continue working, especially in my case as I work at a special school so all of our pupils are still alowed to attend.

Currently, from what I can gauge on the media the advice for chemo patients is contradictory because they are being told to self isolate on one hand, but for family members to go about their normal business taking care to wash hands. Am I wrong in thinking that coronavirus carriers are contagious before presenting as unwell? What if I'm asymptomatic?

Surely if chemo patients are particularly vunerable then the whole family needs to self isolate as much as possible.

The only advice I can give is not to wait for a government speech before acting in your family's best interests!

I hope things are working out for you.

I find myself in the same boat. My wife has breast cancer, I am her sole carer and a secondary school teacher. My school has reported a breakout of covid with more than 10% of pupils currently suffering with illness. I left school today on the grounds that my wife is vunerable. School is sympathetic and we are now negotiating a flexible work plan.

The problem I have is that im told that my wife is more vunerable from day 7 to 14 of her chemo cycle. Should I isolate with her then, working from home and work at school for the remainder of the time or just avoid school until the rate falls below the 10% mark.

I have no real sense of the risk that I present to my wife now COVID is let loose - my sense is to work from home while the shool has an infectoin rate above 10% but this may cause problems at school.

Any advice or pointers to anything that will help me better understand the risks are greatly appreciated.