Staff and students asked to test for COVID-19 before returning to school

High school pupils and staff across St Helens are being urged to test for COVID-19 before they return to school or college next week.

Parents of primary school children in the borough are also being asked to take a lateral flow test before schools re-open.

Pupils aged between 12 and 15 are being encouraged by St Helens Borough Council to book their first vaccinations through the NHS National Booking System to help increase their protection against the virus. The vaccinations will also be offered through schools.

Coronavirus rates

COVID-19 infection rates in a number of primary and secondary schools in the borough rose sharply following the return of pupils to school for the Autumn term in September with 558 positive cases confirmed up until October 17, with 1,970 cases confirmed overall amongst 0-17-year-olds since the beginning of September.

The latest figures for the week leading up to half term showed a further 318 cases confirmed for all children aged 0-17 across the borough, the highest among any age group.

Overall, the latest coronavirus figures from Public Health England for the week ending October 24 showed infection rates for all age groups in the borough at 523 per 100,000, with 946 new cases confirmed, either through PCR or lateral flow tests.

Councillor Anthony Burns, Cabinet Member for Wellbeing, Culture and Heritage said: “The return to term in September saw infections start to rise in several schools in the borough from the very first few days back, so it is important that we do all that we can to prevent this happening again when schools return next week.

“Many of the cases confirmed in those first few weeks were with pupils and staff who had no outward symptoms of the virus and this underlines why regular testing is so important.

“We also want to now encourage pupils aged 12 -15 years old to start booking their first vaccination appointment. This will undoubtedly help in terms of limiting the further spread of the virus in our schools.”

Avoiding surge in cases

Ruth du Plessis, Director of Public Health at St Helens Council, said: “We are very keen to ensure that we avoid a sudden surge in cases in our schools again once pupils return from half term and testing will be very important in helping to achieve this.

“Our mobile testing units have been doing excellent work in helping to identify new cases on site at our schools, thus preventing undetected further spread of the virus in those instances.

“If we can ask all pupils, parents and staff to now test before term resumes next week this will help make a significant difference in helping to prevent the virus coming straight back into schools again.”

Any pupils or staff who do test positive for COVID-19 before returning to school should not go into school and book a PCR test.

Free PCR testing is available at a number of local test sites. For further details on the sites nearest to click here.

Test kits can be ordered online or picked up from a local pharmacy.