By Gabriel Princewill-
A child at a Nottinghamshire primary school has been told to self isolate after confirming to have been in contact with somebody who contracted the coronavirus.
We describe the unknown individual who was in contact with the child as a victim, not because they will die from the virus, but because they have contracted the dangerous virus. The child, whose identity cannot be revealed for obvious reasons attends Roberts Miles junior school in Bingham,Nottingham. The pupil has began a process of self isolating from today. Robert Miles School declined to disclose how long the pupil had been in contact with other pupils and staff since his contact with the individual who contracted the disease.
When pressed for the information, a seemingly immature receptionist from the school rudely dropped the phone. The probing was too much for the lady who ought to be an example of good behaviour to pupils. She had told us that the Headteacher, MrRob Gilbey was unavailable to answer questions but did not state whether she would get him to answer questions about steps the school had taken. As far as he was concerned, he had already released a statement on the school’s website, but this does not mean the content of the statement suffices for us.
Only a fortnight ago, The Eye Of Media.Com heard that a member of staff from Ratton School in Eastbourne who had been in contact with someone with the coronavirus was advised by the Department Of Health England to self isolate for 14 days after coming into contact with someone with a confirmed case of the virus in Brighton. This was to minimise the spread of the Coronavirus in the school and the public. If children can potentially contract the coronavirus, despite the low probability, then adults can catch it too and spread it.
Most schools will be reluctant to disclose this information to the media for fear it could put people off the school. Their position is understandable, but there is a huge public interest in establishing that schools are actually taking the best steps to safeguard all its pupils and staff. A balancing exercise between the important objective of minimising disruption to schools and maximising safety is vital.
QUESTIONABLE
It currently appears questionable whether that balance has correctly been struck. Staff members who may have contacted the coronovrus and mixed with pupils and adults in the school, will always pose a risk to the public. So to will staff members who catch it from those children who fall under the low risk bracket of children catching the disease. At the moment, we don’t know of any child who has tested positive for the virus themselves. At the same time PHE England are not saying the risk of children catching the virus is zero. Neither are they saying staff can’t catch it from children.
MINIMUM DISRUPTION
Advice from medical experts is for minimum disruption to Uk schools, thereby encouraging continuity in experts from all fields are fallible and prone to error. The risk to young children has been adjudged to be low from the Chef medical experts, but no reference has been made to the fact every school have adults in the form of members of staff who are not children with the low risk assigned to children.
A spokesperson from the Department Of Health and Social Care told The Eye Of Media.Com:
”The advice from the Chief Medical Expert is for schools to remain open to reduce the impact on closing schools on children’s education and to the workforce. It is based on the best scientific evidence and advice and we will be abiding by that. The advice from experts is that the risk to children is quite low. Measures are continuously under review”.
When asked about the fact adults, not just children, are in every school and are at a higher risk of both contracting the coronavirus and spreading it, there was no definitive answer to address those concerns, except that it would be continually reviewed. Pupils or members of staff arriving from a high risk country who fall ill to the extent of self isolating as precautionary measures, are potential careers of the coronavirus.
SILENCE
In the case of Nottinghamshire school, there has been no word whether the individual with coronavirus with whom the pupil from the school had been in contact was a child or an adult. This is useful information for research purposes. It is also unduly evasive for the school not to divulge information clarifying for how many days the pupil in question had attended school since his contact with the individual who tested positive for the coronavirus.
Concealing such information is unhelpful to public debate and discussion, and more importantly to the overarching goal of restricting the spread of this killer virus.The email from the school to parents read: “I am writing to let you know I have been notified by a parent of a pupil in Year 3… that they have been advised by NHS to self-isolate (parent and child) for 14 days following contact with a person outside school who has a confirmed case of coronavirus Covid-19.
“I have sought advice from the Department for Education helpline.
“Their advice is as follows: If Public Health England had a serious concern they would have contacted me directly – I can assure parents that this hasn’t happened.
“Should the pupil or parent be confirmed as having coronavirus then our local Health Protection Team will work with the school to make a decision as to what our next course of action would be.”We have already implemented more thorough cleaning practices across the school since returning from the half term break and will carry out a deep clean of the whole Year 3 area along with communal school areas this evening.
“I have been asked by the Department of Education to reassure parents that they are happy with the steps we are taking to minimise the chances of the virus spreading in school but also that if any parent has any concerns, to encourage them to contact the DfE ”.