Local Government and Schools: Coronavirus

(asked on 8th September 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to support (a) schools and (b) local councils where incidents of covid-19 occur.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 23rd September 2020

On 2 July we published guidance to help schools prepare for all pupils, in all year groups, to return to school full-time from the beginning of the autumn term. The guidance can be viewed at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.

The above includes guidance for how schools should manage confirmed cases of COVID-19 amongst the school community, and contain any outbreak. Schools must take swift action when they become aware that someone who has attended has tested positive for COVID-19 and should contact the local health protection team. This team will also contact schools directly if they become aware that someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 attended the school – as identified by NHS Test and Trace.

The health protection team will carry out a rapid risk assessment to confirm who has been in close contact with the person during the period that they were infectious, and ensure they are asked to self-isolate.

The health protection team will work with schools in this situation to guide them through the actions they need to take. Based on the advice from the health protection team, schools must send home those people who have been in close contact with the person who has tested positive, advising them to self-isolate for 14 days since they were last in close contact with that person when they were infectious. The health protection team will provide definitive advice on who must be sent home. For individuals or groups of self-isolating pupils, remote education plans should be in place.

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