The Scotsman

Sturgeon says Covid-19 cases in

- By CONOR MATCHETT

Cases of Covid-19 in schools will “inevitably rise”, the First Minister warned, following the confirmati­on of several cases involving primary school pupils in Scotland.

Nicola Sturgeon said that none of the cases so far linked to three primary school pupils at Todholm in Paisley, Newhill in Blairgowri­e, and Oakbank in Perth involve in-school transmissi­on.

However, she warned that community transmissi­on of the virus will likely see school cases rise, but the balance must be in favour of keeping schools open.

Ms Sturgeon said: “All of the cases that we have seen so far which have involved school students suggest that transmissi­on has taken place outside of the schools, not in the schools.

“That emphasises again the importance of keeping transmissi­on rates as low as possible in the community, continuing to do everything we can to drive these transmissi­on rates as close to eliminatio­n levels as we can. That’s good for our overall health and wellbeing and the overall fight against this virus, but it is also the action that will allow us to keep schools safely open.”

The First Minister said it was “overwhelmi­ngly” more important for children to return to school full time than to not do so and said that blended learning remained a contingenc­y if cases rose to a point where local lockdowns or specific measures were deemed necessary.

“Let’s not forget the importance of that objective,” she said. “It is overwhelmi­ngly in the best interest of young people, particular­ly after four or five months where they have been out of school, to be in fulltime education. The harms to them of losing out on that are considerab­le.

“We will, I think inevitably, see more cases which involves school students in the weeks and months ahead.

“In those cases, as has happened in the ones I’ve mentioned today, contact tracers will identify if other students or staff at schools need to isolate and will let them and their parents know.”

In a letter sent directly to the First Minister, the Educationa­l Institute of Scotland (EIS), the country’s largest teaching union, urged the government to do more to protect teachers.

The union highlighte­d apparent contradict­ions in advice around physical distancing between young people, with a focus on the fact those over 12 are asked to socially distance when meeting friends, but not while at school.

EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan called for “stronger advice” on face coverings and more funding to help reduce class sizes.

The letter stated: “Crucially, everyone 12 and over must physically distance from everyone outside their own household. People are running the risk of spreading the virus to each other, their families and their loved ones.

“May I ask, then, why the

Scottish Government thinks that it is acceptable that inside schools these rules don’t apply, where up to 33 pupils may be in a closed confined area, i.e. a classroom, with as many different households as there are people? EIS members supported the decision to reopen schools as we understand the importance of education to our young people – that does not mean the very real concerns of teachers about school safety should be set aside.”

Ms Sturgeon said the government has made available money to train around 1,400 new teachers to help teach children in schools and did not commit to meeting the EIS’S request for 3,500 more.

The First Minister said: “The EIS are part of the education recovery group, which collective­ly agreed that guidance and that guidance will remain under review.

“We looked particular­ly around physical distancing and this is where we took the scientific advice of the subgroup as to whether they are aware of particular circumstan­ces in schools that would lead to a different position on for example physical distancing outside of schools and we set out very clearly the outcome of those.”

In Ballieston, Glasgow, cases have been confirmed in pupils at Bannerman High School – where one pupil attended classes on Thursday. Positive tests were also returned in pupils at Caldervale High School in Airdrie, and St Ambrose High School and St Andrew’s High School, both in Coatbridge. Three primary school pupils have also tested positive, one in Todholm Primary School in Paisley, Renfrewshi­re, and two others in Perth and Blairgowri­e.

NHS Tayside and Perth and Kinross Council said in a joint statement the schools will remain open as there is currently no evidence to suggest there is any transmissi­on of Covid-19 within either of the schools and the risk to staff and other pupils has been assessed as low by public health specialist­s.

The health board’s health protection team has identified 41 close contacts of the positive cases, who include some school pupils and staff, who have all been notified and advised to self-isolate for 14 days from last Friday as a precaution­ary measure.

Authoritie­s said there was no evidence of any link to the cluster in Coupar Angus, which led to the closure of the 2 Sisters factory.

 ??  ?? 0 NHS nurses protest outside Glasgow Royal Infirmary after
0 NHS nurses protest outside Glasgow Royal Infirmary after

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