The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Schools hit by Covid closures
KIRKCALDY: Staff shortages due to teachers isolating
A Fife town is in the eye of a coronavirus storm as another primary school has been forced to shut due to staff shortages and the nearby high school is asking senior pupils to stay away.
Pathhead Primary School and nursery in Kirkcaldy was closed yesterday after nine cases of Covid-19 in the last fortnight. Parents were told it was due to “insufficient staff numbers”. Kirkcaldy High School has had four positive tests in the past week and has told S5 and S6 students to study from home while another 80 pupils and three staff self-isolate.
Sinclairtown Primary, also in Kirkcaldy, closed for a fortnight before the October holiday, while Torryburn Primary, in west Fife, reopened on Friday. Another Kirkcaldy school, Viewforth High, had around half of its pupils self-isolating or absent last week.
One in five pupils (19.2%) in the KY1 postcode area were absent last Tuesday, according to the Scottish Government.
Elsewhere, a worker has died after contracting Covid-19 in an outbreak in the central decontamination unit at Ninewells Hospital.
Rab Stewart was one of a team of drivers delivering items to 45 theatres throughout Tayside and Fife.
Astaff member at Nine wells Hospital in Dundee has died after contracting Covid-19 amid an outbreak.
Rab Stewart, who worked as a delivery driver in the central decontamination unit (CDU), died at the weekend after more than a week in intensive care.
The unit is battling a wave of infections with nine staff members understood to have tested positive and more than 20 others self-isolating.
Billy Alexander, head of soft facilities at NHS Tayside, confirmed Mr Stewart’s death.
He said :“Rabw as a well respected and valued member of staff within the central decontamination unit at Ninewells Hospital where he worked as a delivery driver.
“Rab worked with the team for over 18 years and was a dear colleague and friend.
“Our thoughts are with Rab’s family at this sad time and we send our deepest sympathies to them.”
The number of infections has snowballed since the first reported case in the CDU at the start of the month.
NHS Tayside said the unit, which is understood to be down to around 50% of its usual staff, was continuing to operate and the outbreak is being monitored.
A spokesperson said: “NHS Tayside’s infection prevention and control team is investigating a number of cases of Covid19 in staff working in the central decontamination unit at Ninewells Hospital.
“All appropriate infection prevention and control measures have been put in place and a number of staff have been asked to self-isolate.
“All staff have also been offered testing, and support from our wellbeing and occupational health services has been made available.
“Services provided by the CDU continue as normal.”
The CDU disinfects trays, instrument packs, supplementaries and soft goods.
Mr Stewart was one of a team of drivers delivering items to 45 theatres throughout Tayside and Fife.
The news comes after a supervisor in the hospital’s catering services department tested positive last week.
An outbreak which started in early November at the Carseview Centre’s learning disability assessment unit is also ongoing.
Three non-Covid wards were closed to visitors and new admissions at the end of October following positive results.
Staff members at Ninewells say they are worried about the cases. One worker commented: “People are getting the virus left, right and centre just now.
“It’s just horrible.”