The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation has called for recently eased Covid measures to be reinstated in schools across Ireland.
They are asking that the previous test and trace methods come back after a primary school in Co. Wexford was forced to close until after mid-term break following the detection of 30 cases.
Among the changes that Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly announced back in September were;
- automatic contact tracing of close contacts in childcare facilities and primary education being discontinued (not including special education facilities)
- testing of asymptomatic close contacts in childcare facilities and primary education discontinued (not including special education facilities)
- children aged 13yrs or under, who are identified as close contacts in childcare, educational settings, special education settings or other non-household settings and who are asymptomatic no longer being required to restrict movements, unless indicated by the local public health team
- children aged 13yrs or under who are identified as household close contacts in household settings are still be required to restrict movements and get tested, regardless of symptomatic status
- public health advice remains that any child aged 13yrs or under who displays symptoms consistent with COVID-19 should rapidly self-isolate and not attend school or to socialise until 48 hours after they are symptom-free
Speaking on RTÉ's Drivetime earlier today, INTO’s John Boyle said these changes were “premature”, and confirmed that over the last few weeks there have been more than 1,350 positive cases of Covid-19 among 5 to 12 year olds.
Mr Boyle has called for a start to antigen testing in schools, and has asked the HIQA to kick start a review of its decision on facemasks.
