Public Health relaxes rules for contract-traced students

Monday 20 September 2021

Students may now attend extra-curricular activities during 10-day testing, announces Public Health.

Despite previously stating that students who had been contact traced were to continue attending school, but not to attend extra-curricular activities, Public Health have now said: “Students identified as contacts of a positive case in an education setting are now able to attend all in-school or outside school activities/sports/clubs/events during the 10 days in which they are taking daily lateral flow tests.”

The current testing arrangements are proving effective in helping to reduce the spread of the infection, and while cases have been identified in multiple schools, the closure of any school has not been required.

“We needed to take incremental steps in these first couple of weeks of term to allow us to access the current situation and ensure that we didn’t see a surge of cases,” said Director of Public Health, Dr Nicola Brink.

“While we have seen cases in educational settings – this was always expected, and we have planned for it – what is important is that we have not had a large spike of cases."

Dr Brink explained that the initial measures concerning restricted extra-curricular activities were only ever designed for the short period where thousands of students returned to education. 

Any student identified as a contact can continue to attend education, providing that:

• They have a negative lateral flow test for the following 10 days, every morning before school or extra-curricular activities on weekends.
• They remain well with no symptoms of Covid-19 (this excludes runny nose as a single symptom in the absence of other symptoms, for example headache, fever, muscle aches and a sore throat). 
• Parents/carers are able to collect their child from their school setting promptly is they begin to develop any symptoms whilst at school.

If your child develops any symptoms, or receives a positive lateral flow test result, parents/carers must keep them at home and arrange a PCR test immediately by contacting the clinical helpline of 756938 or 756969.