Class sent home from Dublin school after positive Covid-19 test

A class has been sent home from a Dublin primary school following a confirmed case of coronavirus in recent days.

In correspondence sent to parents the school stated “there has been a positive Covid-19 case with a pupil in your class”. The school is located in the south west of Dublin.

The coronavirus case had been “contracted outside of school,” and sending the class of the pupil home was a “precautionary measure,” the school said.

The pupils in the affected class were directed to remain at home and restrict their movements for 14 days, and public health officials would be making contact with parents in the next 48 hours, the email said.

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Parents were advised if children who had been in the class began to show symptoms of coronavirus they should contact a GP.

The email to parents said siblings of any pupils in the affected class “may still come to school unless symptomatic or otherwise directed by public health.”

In another email to parents, the school said it “continues its enhanced cleaning and the particular classroom has been deep cleaned”.

Under HSE guidelines schools are not required to contact parents if there has been a confirmed case, with public health teams to inform the “close contacts” of the pupil or staff member of their need to self-isolate while awaiting testing.

The correspondence from the school said it was informing all parents about the confirmed case “in keeping with our policy of open communication”.

“Whilst we are informing parents of this first event, we will not be informing of each individual further cases unless instructed by public health to do so,” the school said.

The school told parents it was “inevitable” that cases of the virus would occur in schools, as they reopened across the country in recent days.

Family members of a child with suspected Covid-19 symptoms have to self-isolate while the child is awaiting a test. However, this requirement would not extend to other children in the class sent home from the school, unless they begin to display symptoms.

Guidelines

Under current HSE guidelines all pupils in a class will not automatically be referred for testing if there is a confirmed coronavirus case.

The number of students in a class deemed “close contacts” of pupils who test positive for Covid-19 and referred for testing will be “variable” to each classroom and school, HSE guidance states.

In primary schools, where students are divided into smaller groups called “pods,” it is likely the other students in a pod would be deemed “close contacts” of a case. However, students in other pods in the classroom would not be, and as such would not be referred for testing.

Pupils in the class sent home from the south-west Dublin primary school will only be referred for testing if they are deemed “close contacts” of the positive case by public health teams.

The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) is understood to be considering introducing new, less invasive tests for children, as more cases and clusters are expected in schools in the coming weeks.

The alternative tests would see swabs being taken from inside the cheek and nostril. It is understood the matter is still under discussion and it would be a number of weeks before NPHET make a decision on it.