Number of pupils and staff self-isolating in Cambridgeshire revealed in new weekly update on coronavirus in county's schools

Over 440 Cambridgeshire school pupils are currently self-isolating as a result of covid-19.

The figures were released today (Tuesday) in a briefing from Cambridgeshire County Council, which explained the schools team has been busy as a result of a "substantial" number of enquiries regarding outbreaks of the coronavirus in classrooms across the area.

Today's announcement is the first of what is now planned to be a weekly update giving an overview of the situation in schools. The aim is to help manage the volume of requests.

The weekly updates will detail the number of schools in each area which have experienced an outbreak of the virus during the preceding week.

However, the county council will not be identifying individual schools, or say how many children or staff have contracted the virus as some schools will only have single cases.

The figures will highlight the total number of pupils and staff who are self-isolating as a result of outbreaks.

For the week commencing November 2 the following number of schools in each area had confirmed cases of Covid-19: Fenland, four; East Cambs, 11; Cambridge City, nine; Huntingdonshire, 14; South Cambs, 11 and Peterborough, 30.

A total of 40 staff and 441 pupils in Cambridgeshire are self-isolating as a result of these cases, with 31 staff and 165 pupils self-isolating in Peterborough.

Jonathan Lewis, service director for education, said: “The safety of our children, their families and our school staff is, and always will be, our top priority. We are working with schools that have confirmed cases of Covid-19 around promoting good infection control advice and will continue to communicate with the parents and carers of those involved. The affected people and those that have been identified as close contacts are told to isolate, as per the existing process agreed by the Local Authority, Public Health England and our schools.

“Our school teams are committed to ensuring pupils follow the rules within school, and I urge parents and carers to do the same outside of school to help slow the spread of coronavirus.”

The figures come as it was announced today that Cottenham Primary School has closed on a temporary basis, as the number of staff currently needing to self-isolate due to exposure to COVID-19 means that children can’t be cared for safely. This decision has been taken following national guidance and in conjunction with public health.