The return of all children to the classroom next month is “a worry”, councillors were told.
Eileen O’Meara, Halton’s director of public health, told a council committee she would have preferred to see a phased approach to schools reopening, with primary school children going back first.
But, she told Halton Council’s Health Policy and Performance Board on Tuesday (February 23), her team was doing everything they could to ensure pupils and staff were regularly tested.
Ms O’Meara said: “Before we went into lockdown we set up testing in the schools so we’re doing it with all the staff regularly, so as soon as anybody’s got Covid we’re picking it up very quickly and getting them to isolate.”
Ms O’Meara’s comments came in response to a question by Cllr Sandra Baker, who said she was concerned about the impact of opening schools in a borough where case rates were still relatively high.
Cllr Baker said: “We’ve got two schools that are going to have 3,000-plus children on site with staff that haven’t been vaccinated.
“These children are going to go home to a cohort of parents, working class parents, who in turn haven’t been vaccinated.
“I’m just concerned this could elevate the infection rate again.”
Find the number of people vaccinated near you by entering your postcode below
While Ms O’Meara acknowledged it was “a worry”, she said testing had suggested there were not many cases among school children.
She said: “They tend to catch it from adults but they don’t tend to give it in the same was as adults.”
Ms O’Meara added: “We are doing everything we can to test everyone and keep everyone safe but the government has decided to send everybody back at the same time.
“I would have preferred it if primary schools had gone back and then a little bit later secondary schools, but it wasn’t my choice.”
During the meeting, Ms O’Meara told councillors that Halton’s infection rate had fallen a long way since the peak on January 8 and the borough was now 43rd nationally.
In the week up to February 19 there were 140.6 new Covid infections per 100,000 people in Halton, compared to more than 1,300 on January 8.
Ms O’Meara said cases were mainly among the working age population, with several outbreaks at workplaces.
She also told councillors that Daresbury and the centre of Widnes had elevated rates of Covid-19 compared to the rest of the borough.
