Parents urged to ‘avoid play dates and gathering at school gates’

AS A PHASED reopening of schools begins on Monday, deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn has appealed to parents to adhere to public health guidelines.

In an open letter released yesterday, Dr Glynn warned parents of schoolchildren to “avoid congregating at school gates” and to not organise “play dates”.

He outlined that schools are able to reopen due to the “hard work and willingness” of the general public over the past two months.

However, he warned that just because schools can reopen, it does not mean other forms of household mixing and mobility are acceptable.

“Despite the progress we have made, Covid-19 is still circulating at high levels in our communities,” the deputy CMO said.

“We must do all we can individually and collectively to ensure that the reopening of schools results in the minimum possible upward pressure on the reproduction number.

“Please avoid congregating at school gates over the coming weeks. Please do not have play dates or organise after school activities which involve household mixing.

“And please continue to work from home unless essential. It is only through your continued buy-in to these measures that we can ensure that our children will get back to school and then stay back in school.”

Dr Glynn said the importance of school for the wellbeing of children “cannot be overstated”.

“Schools are at the heart of our communities and they play a fundamental role in the social lives and well-being of our children; this is particularly true for children who have special educational needs, are disadvantaged or who may have been disproportionately impacted by school closures over the last year,” he added.

Dr Glynn said he understood these were difficult requests, but that if the disease continues to be suppressed through March and April “we will have many more options in terms of easing of measures and should be able to provide much greater levels of certainty to people about the months ahead”.