Officials had to 'act' after Covid outbreak at primary school

Cherry Tree Primary School in Watford is currently closed to pupils after a "number" of cases were recorded across different year groups.

Head teacher Cheska Tyler said the decision to shut was made following guidance from Public Health England and the local authorities.

Current guidance published on the Government website states any restrictions on education are always a "last resort" and the government has made it a "national priority" that education settings should operate as "normally as possible" during the pandemic.

However, if there is "extremely high prevalence of Covid" and existing measures have failed to reduce community transmission, measures affecting education may be "necessary" to reduce the overall number of social contacts in our communities and help protect the NHS.

The guidance adds as a "last resort", it may be "necessary" to restrict attendance at some education settings, but that any decision to restrict attendance would "not be taken lightly", and would involve Government ministers.

Cherry Tree Primary School in North Watford. Credit: Google Street View

The situation at Cherry Tree appears to have been deemed serious enough to keep pupils at home, although there is uncertainty about whether any cases at Cherry Tree are definitely that of a "variant of concern", such as the Indian variant, which is thought to be more transmissive than other variants in the country.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock told a Downing Street press conference yesterday that up to three-quarters of new coronavirus cases in England were the Indian variant, though he stressed that the vaccines were having an effect on keeping people out of hospital.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock at a Downing Street coronavirus briefing on Thursday. Credit: PA

When asked about the outbreak at the primary school in Watford, Hertfordshire's director of public health, Jim McManus, told the Observer every recorded positive case goes through a sequencing process, but he did not outright confirm if the Indian variant had been recorded at the school.

However in a statement, he did shed some light on why action had been taken to temporarily close Cherry Tree.

Mr McManus said: "There is a standard procedure in place for managing any outbreak of Covid-19, and we take a process of managing it which is designed to work for every variant currently found in Hertfordshire.

"Every positive case goes through a sequencing process which, at present, can take up to two weeks, so the priority is to act while awaiting sequencing.

"Preventative measures are the most vital action in minimising transmission of the virus, regardless of whether a case is found to be a variant or not, and moving a class, a whole year group or all children at a school to remote-learning is a last resort.

"It is vital that, in order for schools to be able to open at full capacity after half-term, we all continue to be cautious, and keep virus circulation low."

Jim McManus, director for public health at Hertfordshire County Council

Ahead of the half-term break, Mr McManus says everyone needs to the basics because of more opportunities to meet up with family and friends.

He said: "We should keep wearing a face-covering when required, washing our hands regularly and maintaining social-distancing and, if meeting people indoors, make sure the venue is well-ventilated. But meeting outdoors for now is much lower risk if weather allows.

"It is also absolutely critical to get the vaccine when you can or when offered it; take a test twice-a-week and self-isolate if you are told to. If we do all of these things, we will stop the spread of the virus in its tracks."