Parents of children at an Aberdeenshire primary school have voiced concerns that their children are not safe from Covid at school.
One mother was so worried she took her daughter out of Ordiquhill School because she believed she was a close contact of a positive case.
But no one from the school or NHS ever told her to isolate herself.
Amanda Ross instead made her own decision to keep her daughter out of class – she is asthmatic and at high risk.
She worries it’s unsafe for any of the kids to be in school with active cases, and doesn’t understand why more families aren’t being asked to isolate.
Council officials have said that schools take advice on isolation from public health officials.
And an NHS spokeswoman said that the new rules this year mean that your child does not have to self-isolate if you haven’t received instructions from NHS Test and Protect.
But some parents are still worried, despite the reassurances.
‘It doesn’t appear they are taking this seriously’
Mrs Ross said that she received two letters from the school over the past week notifying parents of individual cases among students.
But she says parents and friends know of several positive cases, and in some cases even close friends are not receiving instructions about isolating.
A spokesman from Aberdeenshire Council referred questions about specific isolation protocols to NHS Grampian. He said that the council follows the advice of public health officials.
My child won’t be going back until after the October holidays.”
But another Ordiquhill mother is equally confused. She said she expected everyone to have to isolate if a number of students in one class have tested positive – which is what she believes is the situation.
“I am along with Amanda really frustrated with this whole situation. Covid is very much real, but it doesn’t appear they are taking this seriously.
“It is obvious it is spreading within the school. My child won’t be going back until after the October holidays and I will home school her at home.”
Why aren’t classes isolating?
If you think your child has had high-risk contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19, but you have not received a call from Test and Protect, there is no requirement to self-isolate.
Pupil contact tracing is working differently from last year, and has different rules from the general public.
Cases are being driven by transmission across the community rather than in specific locations such as schools.”
-NHS Grampian spokeswoman
Changes to the self-isolation rules this year mean that entire class “bubbles” are no longer having to isolate.
A spokeswoman from NHS Grampian explained why.
“The current national policy is not to isolate entire classes, rather to isolate cases as they arise, given Public Health Scotland evidence that most children in the same class as cases do not become cases themselves.
“This and the unprecedented high levels of community infection that are being seen leads to the conclusion that cases are being driven by transmission across the community rather than in specific locations such as schools.”
Instead, NHS Test and Protect will only reach out to “high-risk close contacts.”
What’s the process for pupil contact tracing and isolation?
Once a pupil tests positive for Covid-19, they begin the process of high-risk contact tracing, the spokeswoman said.
These could be household members, sleepover contacts, close friends or partners. Scottish Government advice specifically states that pupils who test positive should not include contacts of “teachers, classroom contacts or friends unless they have had unusually close or prolonged contact with them.”
Public health officials consider these classroom contacts “low risk.”
Then, parents should notify their school that a child is going to be absent because of a positive test.
According to policy, the school should notify families in the same primary class or secondary school year. This is a “Warn and Inform” letter. It advises – but doesn’t require – pupils to take a Covid-19 test before coming back to class.
Parents across the region are making their own decisions
Families and schools learned last year that isolating entire classes disrupts the learning process. And health officials are now saying that it may not be effective at stopping the virus from spreading locally.
But that leaves parents like Mrs Ross feeling like they have to take their children’s safety into their own hands.
Scottish Government statistics show that there are currently 77 pupils absent from Aberdeenshire schools because their parents have chosen to keep them home “as a precautionary measure contrary to public health guidance”.
And there are more examples of this all across the north and north east.
Of the students who are absent for a Covid-19 related reason, between 3 and 12% are by parent choice across north and north east local authorities.
In Highland, of the 1,977 pupils absent for Covid-19 reasons, 182 are home contrary to health advice (9.2%). And in Orkney, 11.9% of Covid-19 related absences are by parent choice.
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