A member of staff has tested positive for coronavirus at a Blyth school.
One adult working at Bede Academy, in Northumberland, was diagnosed with Covid-19, bosses at the school have confirmed.
A "small number" of children were found to have come into close contact with that person, and have been asked to stay at home until the self-isolation period is up.
Close contacts are those who have had face-to-face contact, within one metre, of someone who has tested positive for coronavirus, including having a conversation from less than a metre away, being coughed on, spending longer than one minute within 1m of the infected person or 15 minutes with 2m of them.
A spokesperson for the academy said: "A member of staff at Bede Academy has tested positive for Covid-19. A small number of students have been identified as coming into close contact with him and have, therefore, been asked to self-isolate at home.
"No other members of staff are believed to have been affected. The academy remains open as normal, and all precautions and Public Health guidance continue to be followed."
It's understood this member of staff was part of the senior section of the academy. In September, a class "bubble" of 30 reception students was asked to self-isolate after a staff member in the bubble contracted the virus.
Bede Academy is the latest of many schools in the North East to confirm that staff or students have tested positive for Covid-19.
As an area subject to some local lockdown restrictions, children in Year 7 and above, as well as adult staff, in North East schools are ordered to wear masks in communal areas like corridors, where social distancing is hard to maintain, while they're at school.
We're keeping people updated with the latest Covid-19 cases in schools across the region, with our rolling feed, here.
