“Behind the Headlines” – COVID situation among schools

“Behind the Headlines” – COVID situation among schools

The Council and NHS Orkney Public Health are aware of parental and public concern within the community in regards to the ongoing COVID situation among schools and some unfortunate speculation circulating on social media. We thought it may be helpful to provide some background and explain some of the reasoning behind why a school remains open and how and when a decision is made on whether to close in full or partially.

When a primary school class gets a number of confirmed COVID cases among pupils/staff, why does the entire class not have to automatically self-isolate? Is there a particular threshold/percentage of class when Public Health would advise this?

No, the approach to managing cases in school aged children changed in August. The change reflected the greater understanding of the impact of COVID on children and young people. Children and young people as a group have relatively low risk of direct COVID harm but are at particularly high risk of wider – and long-term – social, educational, economic and wellbeing harms.

Children are now assessed as either high risk or low risk contacts of a case.

When a case is under 18 high risk contacts are:

• Anyone they live with
• Anyone they have had an overnight stay with
• Anyone outside the home they have had unusually close or prolonged contact with (e.g. intimate personal care without the use of PPE)

In addition to the high risk contacts outlined above, as soon as schools are informed of a positive case they are asked to take action to identify low risk contacts so they can issue them with a targeted information letter the same day that sets out the actions those low risk contacts should take. As a general rule, schools are asked to consider targeting the letters towards those who are most likely to have been in low risk contact with a positive case, such as pupils sitting close to the confirmed case, potential contacts in the same class or classes, those who have been on a school trip with the positive case, or other relevant situations of which school leadership teams will have local knowledge.

There is no fixed absolute percentage of positive cases that results in a class closure, but a range of factors are taken into account including the level of background community transmission that is occurring.

Who makes the decision on whether a school or a class closes?

Usually, schools continue to operate during outbreaks. On occasion it may be necessary to move to remote learning approaches or to temporarily close a school or part of a school in order to implement control measures or for operational reasons. Any decision on this would be determined through the Incident Management Team – made up of NHS Orkney Public Health, Orkney Islands Council Environmental Health, Safety and Resilience and schools - working in partnership. Similar decisions to close a school may require to be taken by local authorities in conjunction with schools where staffing constraints (e.g. due to self-isolation) or other matters make such a move unavoidable.

Papdale Primary school in Kirkwall was partially closed due to a lack of available staff, rather than specifically because of the number of cases among pupils and staff. Would Public Health have advised this partial closure if there had been enough staff available to cover classes?

Usually, schools continue to operate during outbreaks. Due to the necessity of partial closure due to staffing levels the Incident Management Team did not meet to discuss any potential partial closures. If staffing is available, it would be for the Incident Management Team to consider the situation and advise on partial closure.

Was there transmission within the school?

The possibility of some transmission in the school setting remains, however the high levels of transmission in the community continue to make this difficult to assess. Public health continues to see high levels of transmission in the household setting.

Parents have said they are concerned about the wider transmission from children to vulnerable members of their family – could anything have been done differently?

The levels of COVID in Orkney have been high for some period of time now, and with community transmission it is inevitable that cases will be seen across all age groups. The risk of hospitalisation and severe illness is reduced by COVID vaccination, and it is important that individuals take up the offer of vaccination. Spread of COVID can also be reduced by simple measures such as maintaining 2 metre distance, wearing face coverings in crowded places, meeting outdoors where possible and if indoors ensuring good ventilation. Public Health would not have changed its approach of working closely with colleagues in Education to support the management of cases in pupils and staff.

Why is a school simply not closed when it becomes clear that COVID-19 is present?

Schools will not be closed as a matter of course when there are cases of COVID-19, each situation will be monitored and managed appropriately depending on a variety of factors, such as numbers of cases throughout the school, case numbers within classes, case numbers among staff, enhanced mitigating measures that can be put in place, the size of the school, whether the source is determined by Public Health as being the school or wider community transmission.

If we were simply to close a school when there are cases of COVID-19, we may find ourselves in a position whereby schools are rarely open, especially given the current high rates of community transmission across Orkney. This would be incredibly damaging for pupils and students who have already missed out on so much on their educational and social well-being journey. It is for this reason that we must look to each individual set of circumstances and make informed decision based on the facts and advice before us.

When is it deemed necessary to close or partially close a school when considering COVID-19 numbers?

There are a number of reasons why a school may be closed. Public Health consider the facts before them and use this to ascertain whether or not the school is the source of transmission or whether it is as a result of wider community transmission. Overall class numbers are looked at and the numbers of COVID-cases relevant to each class. If the number of cases increases above a certain level within an individual class (this may vary again dependent on the size of the class) and it is determined that there is spread within that class, then a decision may be made to close down individual classes.

This has been being closely monitored at Papdale Primary School.

Another option open is to close down sections of a school, for example if the upper section is more affected, then that could be closed down or vice-versa.

We must also consider staffing levels – if staff numbers fall below what is deemed as a safe number to operate against the number of pupils within the school then the Education Service can make the decision to close a school – as was the case at Stronsay Junior High School recently due to positive cases and the number of staff requiring to self-isolate.

Why have cafes and pubs been closed with smaller positive cases of COVID and not Papdale Primary?

We must find the correct balance in respect of schools and the right of pupils to have an education and a social experience. This is so important and has to be a factor in the decision-making. COVID is within our communities and it looks as though it is here to stay for some time yet. We must learn to manage all situations to allow us to continue with our lives in as safe and appropriate way as possible. The last thing we want is to find ourselves in a position whereby schools are closing for a week or two every few weeks due to cases of COVID.

Will parents be penalised if they choose not to put their children to school during a COVID-19 situation?

There has been some worrying speculation among social media and this is really not helpful to anyone. We understand why parents are concerned and we do appreciate why a small number have chosen to keep their children home. At no time has there been any suggestion that these parents will be penalised for this. However, we would encourage all parents to continue to put their children to school to allow those who are well to continue learning.

How are parents being kept informed?

Following all inter-disciplinary meetings, statements have been issued to the local media and on the Council website and social media pages. The Head Teacher has issued “warn and inform” letters to affected classes and a letter was sent to all parents advising of the sitation. She also issued her weekly news round-up to all parents on Friday and the staff continue to be available to provide reassurance to parents when that is required.

Staff, from the cleaners to the school chefs, the janitors to the administration workers, support staff, nursery staff and teachers, led by the Head Teacher have been doing an incredible job in challenging circumstances. Please remember that we are all in this together and trying our best to manage difficult situations.

Following a decision to close or partially close a school, what happens next?

Parents and staff will be informed as soon as possible and remote learning may be issued for allow those children having to remain at home to still participate in some for of learning. Re-opening will be determined once the situation is deemed safe and appropriate.