A number of Highland schools have been forced to close on ‘public health’ grounds leaving hundreds of students at home.
Council staff have confirmed the closure of three schools across the Highland Council authority area.
Both Grantown Primary and its accompanying nursery have closed their doors – while Millbank Primary Nursery in Buckie has also closed due to Covid.
The schools are temporarily closed as staff members, identified as close contacts, are following public health advice to self-isolate and book PCR tests.
Earlier this month several schools closed due to Covid outbreaks leaving thousands of students at home.
As a result of the closures, 247 students have been told to stay at home across the Highland Council region.
Are school buses to blame for Highland school closures?
School bus travel could be partly to blame for the current Covid spike in north schools, according to the experts.
Face masks on school transport and rolling out the vaccine to younger children could be possible solutions to the area’s problem.
Hundreds of Highland pupils have been stuck at home in the past two weeks as secondary and primary schools were closed at short notice.
The reason for the apparent rise specifically in the north was a mystery.
But now, local NHS public health director Dr Tim Allison has explained some possible reasons for the spike.
He spoke to the council’s education committee about the “surprising” rise of Covid cases among Highland primary school children.
“We had hoped that Covid rates would be going down since the peak in August, but probably a bit worse than plateauing, it’s been going up in the community. That tends to be all across the communities,” said Dr Allison.