HUNDREDS MORE PUPILS MUST SELF-ISOLATE
Cases at 15 city schools in past week
HUNDREDS more pupils in Swansea have been sent home to self-isolate in the past week as 15 more schools in the city reported coronavirus cases just before the half-term holiday and circuit-breaker lockdown, which began at 6pm last night.
HUNDREDS more pupils in Swansea have been sent home to self-isolate in the past week as 15 more schools in the city reported coronavirus cases just before the halfterm holiday and circuitbreaker lockdown.
But the city’s interim education director Helen Morgan Rees insisted schools had re-opened safely this term. Community transmission, not schools, were the source of infection.
And she appealed to parents not to gather at school entrances saying: “Children and young people have seen enough disruption to their education to last a lifetime and we must not spoil it anymore.
“Please think twice about any actions you may take, in innocence, in the face of an invisible virus.”
Swansea Council said entire year groups in the following schools were told to self isolate between October 17 and 22: Hen
drefoilan primary; Clwyd primary; Pontarddulais primary; Bishop Vaughan Catholic School; Cwmrhydyceirw primary; Sketty primary; St Joseph’s Catholic primary (Clydach); Tre Uchaf primary; Dunvant primary; Burlais primary; Gowerton comprehensive; Gors primary; Gwyrosydd primary; St David’s RC primary; Pentrehafod comprehensive.
The council did not give details of how many cases there were at the 15 schools or how many are self-isolating, but year groups in comprehensives run into hundreds and are around 30 in primary schools.
Ms Morgan Rees added: “The safe reopening of schools in Swansea has been successful during the first half-term of the school year.
“We have developed a very cautious approach in listening to the advice of NHS Test Trace Protect (TTP) here in Swansea.
“As a result, schools in Swansea are not the source of Covid-19 transmission and children and young people are protected when in school.
“All children and young people are following the school rules and are careful about washing hands and wearing a face mask if they need to.
“However, schools and providers of education are being disrupted when a community transmitted case comes in from the outside.
“May I urge you once again to keep a close eye on symptoms and to follow the rules, especially now that we are entering a national circuit-breaker or ‘fire-break’.
“I would also like to stress how important it is that all parents and carers think twice about social gatherings inside and outside their homes during the next fortnight and beyond.
“Can I also remind you that if you are dropping off or collecting children from school then you need to follow social distancing and no matter how tempting please do not congregate at the school gates.