New face covering advice for Trafford schools to tackle rising Covid rates

Trafford schools are being issued new advice in response to the borough’s rapidly rising Covid-19 rate.

The rate in Trafford is currently at 618.1/100k (for the seven days up to 3 October), which is a 37% increase in a week and is being driven by a rise in infections in school children.

There are 29 outbreaks in schools in the borough, which is having a big impact on school attendance and staff absence.

Health officials in Trafford say teachers and staff in the borough have been working extremely hard to make sure their schools are as safe as possible and they are urging parents to support these new measures.

In Trafford, secondary school pupils, secondary school staff and primary school staff are now being advised to wear face coverings when moving around school. Parents dropping off and picking up children at schools are also being asked to wear face coverings.

Since August, double vaccinated adults and all children do not have to self-isolate if they are a close contact of someone who has Covid. However pupils and staff in Trafford schools who live with someone who has Covid are now asked to do daily lateral flow tests before going to school. This testing should start from the day their household member either became unwell with Covid or tested positive if they did not have symptoms. They should then continue their daily testing for 10 days.

Helen Gollins, Acting Director of Public Health at Trafford Council, said:

“Sadly our Covid-19 rate in Trafford is very high and it continues to rise. With these measures we hope to reduce the number of cases in schools so children can continue to attend lessons.

"I must thank our school staff for the excellent job they continue to do in such difficult circumstances and I hope parents will support these new measures as we try to reduce infections in the borough.”