Pupils at an Edinburgh primary school were not identified as requiring to self-isolate amid an outbreak of Covid-19 cases among the student body after data submitted to local health authority tracing teams was found to be ‘inaccurate’.
Students at East Craigs Primary continued to attend as normal for six school days before officials realised they should have been at home following an "admin error" in reporting at least one positive test.
Furious parents told how they were blindsided by the "systemic failure" which left three classes isolating, with health officials blaming the breakdown on a misreporting of data to the test and protect team.
Education chiefs blamed the delay on an “administrative error” in an email apologising to parents, leaving children unable to return to school until June 14 providing they have returned a negative PCR test.
Youngsters should have been at home for ten days under current health guidance if they were identified as close contacts of a positive test.
City of Edinburgh Council say there are currently no plans to close down the school for deep cleaning before the end of the academic year on June 25.
But one mother of a child in the primary four year group blasted the lag as a “unacceptable” adding it had put the community at risk.
She said: “We’ve had all these children who should have been self-isolating going about the school and then the community for eight days.
“It’s a systemic failure, there has been a complete breakdown in communication, I just don’t understand with the protocols being in place correctly how that kind of error can happen.
"They apologised but it feels like too little too late. We have so little information that we don't have any word on where the error occurred, we're just left guessing at this stage."
It comes as the latest Scottish Government figure revealed another rise in positive cases across the country in the latest 24-hour period.
A further 1,104 people tested positive for the virus, with 241 of those originating in the NHS Lothian health board area.
Council education bosses have encouraged any parents or carers concerned about the outbreak to contact the school directly.
A City of Edinburgh Council spokesperson said: “Due to an administrative error pupils were asked to self-isolate for two days only.
"We apologise for any inconvenience or confusion caused.”
Meanwhile, Buckstone Primary School, which closed last week amid a mass spread of positive cases among pupils and staff, is to reopen on Monday after a week-long closure.
