Italy school trip prompts mum to keep son at home

A parent at a Perth school says she is keeping her son away from classes over fears he might catch the coronavirus.

A group from Perth Grammar School has just returned from a skiing trip to Italy, however those pupils have been asked to attend school this week rather than stay at home and self-isolate.

Northern Italy is currently experiencing the worst outbreak of COVID-19 in Europe, with many people who have travelled to the infected areas being told to self-isolate.

The Foreign Office has warned against all but essential travel to 11 quarantined towns in the Lombardy and Veneto areas of northern Italy, and said anyone travelling back from north of Pisa should stay at home for 14 days if they develop flu-like symptoms.

Mum Charlene McDonald was one of the parents who kept her soon off school on Monday, March 2, and said it is“shocking”the pupils who have been to Italy are being told to keep attending school.

Speaking to the PA, she said:“It is really worrying as a parent that this is going about and there have been kids at the school over there - they might not have contracted it, but you never, ever know.

“There are a few people who have kept their children off school because of this.”

Charlene says she called Perth Grammar School on Monday morning to find out what precautions the school was taking to deal with the coronavirus.

She continued:“I phoned the school and spoke to someone to ask what was happening with the children just returning from the trip, and basically got told there is a procedure to follow and if the kids have any symptoms, they are not to go to school.

“I asked what the procedure was and she then put me on hold and then said‘the procedure we are to follow’.

“It was not‘the government procedure’ or‘the local procedure’, it was just‘the procedure’.

“I find it bizarre because these children could possibly not have coronavirus, but they could be carrying it, and the symptoms don’t always show right away.

“I don’t think Perth Grammar School have done a very good job of this to make sure other children don’t get infected.

“It is much safer for my son to be off school, I don’t know a lot about coronavirus but I know it can potentially kill, so it is shocking the school has not taken any measures with the kids who have been out there.”

A spokesperson for Perth and Kinross Council said all schools in the area are aware of the guidance that has been issued.

They said:“The health and wellbeing of our pupils and staff is our top priority.

“All of our schools are aware of the requirement to adhere to the advice and guidance from the Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland.

“If anyone becomes symptomatic then we ask that they follow the procedure set out by NHS Scotland and Public Health Scotland on what they should do.”