COVID-19 Dundee schools update

MONDAY, 24 AUGUST, 2020

JOINT STATEMENT FROM NHS TAYSIDE AND DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL

COVID-19: Dundee schools cases update

Update from the Incident Management Team (IMT) which is working with Dundee City Council, Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland to provide advice and support around the cases linked to schools in Dundee.

COVID-19 confirmed cases linked to Kingspark School as at 2pm, 24 August, 2020:

    • Number of confirmed COVID-19 positive cases = 27
    This is made up of:

    • 21 members of staff

    • 2 pupils

    • 4 community contacts

The school remains closed and all staff and pupils continue to self-isolate.

The advice issued by the IMT on Friday is:

    • All staff should self-isolate for 14 days from the last day they were on site

    • All pupils should self-isolate for 14 days from Thursday, 20 August

    • Anyone who lives with a pupil, such as parents, carers or siblings, should self-isolate for 14 days if they are unable to maintain physical distancing within the household from Thursday, 20 August

    • People who live with staff members do not need to self-isolate but staff should try to distance from other members of the household as much as possible

    • Testing is available for all staff who work at the school and support and advice available for everyone involved

Dr Daniel Chandler said, “Due to the high level of tests undertaken among staff who work at the school, we may see a small rise in the number of positive cases as these results come through.

“The actions and measures that have been put in place will help to prevent any further spread of infection and we hope to see the numbers of positive cases to tail off over the coming days.”

Paul Clancy, Dundee City Council Executive Director of Children and Families Services, said, “I would like to reassure families that this action is being taken to keep everyone safe. This is our paramount concern and we cannot be complacent.”

St Peter and Paul’s School

    • A single positive case has been linked to the Primary 2A class at St Peter and Paul’s School in Dundee. Parents of all pupils in P2A have been contacted by education staff to advise that their child should self-isolate for 14 days until 2 September.

Happy Times out-of-school club

    • A single positive case has been linked to Happy Times out-of school club at Downfield Primary School. All staff of the out-of-school club and children who attended have been contacted and are also self-isolating for 14 days until 2 September.

Please be reassured that if you have not been contacted individually, your child has not been identified as a contact of a case in either of these schools, and they can continue to attend school and undertake other activities as normal.

Further information for parents and staff is available at www.taysidecares.co.uk


COVID-19 cases in schools

Many precautions have been taken in Tayside schools to limit the areas pupils access and the people they have contact with. This limits the spread of the virus and means that, if a positive case of COVID-19 is identified in a school, Public Health teams can confidently identify who has been in contact with that person. Parents/carers of children who have been in direct contact with a confirmed case will receive a letter from Public Health and/or a telephone call from ‘Test & Protect’ asking them to stay home for 14 days. The 14 days will start from the last exposure, which is likely to be before the confirmed case was tested.

If your child is asked to stay home because they have been in contact with a confirmed case at school, other household members do not need to self-isolate providing all household members are well. Siblings can continue to attend school if they have not been identified as a close contact and no one in the household is unwell. If you have not been contacted by Public Health then your child can continue to attend school providing they and the rest of the household are well.

What to do if your child develops symptoms of COVID-19

If your child develops symptoms of COVID-19, they must not come to school.  You should arrange for your child to be tested and all household members should stay at home during this time. 

Anyone with symptoms will be eligible for testing and further information on testing can be found on NHS Inform   

If the test is positive your child should remain at home for at least 10 days from the date when their symptoms appeared. All other household members must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days.

Further information is available at:

https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/infections-and-poisoning/coronavirus-covid-19


https://www.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/

Contact:

NHS Tayside Communications

(01382) 424138

24 August 2020