Classrooms are a safe place says expert – but school gates are a risk

The risk of Covid-19 transmission is greater at the school gates than in the classroom, a public health official has said.

Dr Joanne Mcclean of Northern Ireland’s Public Health Agency paid tribute to the work done to keep pupils and staff safe inside the classroom as the Stormont Executive prepares to consider the reopening of schools.

But she said that while the classroom environment can be controlled, mixing outside it cannot be.

Most schools in Northern Ireland have been closed since before the Christmas break as part of a lockdown to stem the spread of coronavirus.

Special

schools

have remained open and mainstream schools are open for the children of key workers.

Dr Mcclean said the evidence shows that in schools the risk to staff is not zero, but no higher than to other members of the workforce.

"Schools are not the major source of transmission ... the risk for the staff in the classroom is not higher than other workforces and part of that is due to the excellent measures that schools have put in place," she said.

"Schools have done a huge amount, principals have worked themselves into the ground from September onwards to introduce ways of working in schools that are completely new to them.”

But she added that children and staff "cannot be magicked" into school classrooms.

"There are two bits to this, there's the bit that goes on in the classroom that schools can control ... and then there is the bit that goes on outside the gates," she said.

"You just need to look at a school ... a child goes to school, all the measures are in place but the minute they come out that door, there is mixing and parents mixing."

Dr Mcclean said schools being open adds an estimated 0.3-0.6 to the reproduction number, or R value, of the virus.

"Every single contact matters, where people meet, coronavirus has the opportunity to spread," she said.

"Overall the message for every single one of us still is every single contact matters, keep your contacts as low as possible, stay at home and only have contact with other people when you really have to."