Norfolk's secondary students urged to get Covid tests before heading back to school
The County Council is asking for increased testing as the holidays come to an end.
High School students in Norfolk are being encouraged to take lateral flow Covid tests before heading back to school after half term on Monday.
Norfolk County Council is asking all secondary pupils to take a symptom-free test either on Sunday night or Monday morning.
Parents and carers are also being reminded to continue with twice-weekly testing, to help prevent the spread of the virus in schools.
There were 1327 cases among 10 to 14 year olds in the week ending 22/10/2021 compared to 1219 the previous week (week ending 15/10/2021).
Chris Snudden, Director of Learning and Inclusion at Norfolk County Council, said: “It was brilliant to see children return to school in September with a much more rounded education.
"Extra curricular activities, school-trips and events were all able to take place, giving children the chance to catch-up on some of the more social activities that are so important to their learning and well-being.
“We really want this to be able to continue through the second half of the autumn term, so we’re asking parents and high school children to keep testing regularly, so that we can reduce the spread of the virus in schools and help keep children and school staff as safe as possible.”
Dr Louise Smith, Director for Public Health at Norfolk County Council, said: “Vaccination, regular testing and good hygiene are crucial if we are to minimise the spread of the virus. Rates of Covid-19 are lower in Norfolk schools than in our neighbouring authorities and we want to keep it that way. If every secondary school child takes a test before they return to school, then we will help to identify some of those who don’t have symptoms and prevent them from taking the virus back into their classrooms.
“We are thankful to all of those who are doing their part by taking part in regular testing – this is helping to protect the most vulnerable as we head into cold and flu season.”
Cllr John Fisher, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services at Norfolk County Council, said: “Norfolk’s schools have been doing a great job of supporting children to catch-up after so many months of disrupted learning. They continue to do what they can to prevent the spread of the virus, with extra cleaning and hygiene measures and ventilation.
“Through vaccination and regular testing we can all do our bit to reduce the spread of the virus and help children to have the full school experience that they deserve.”
Secondary school students can receive symptom free test kits from their schools, but extra packs can be picked up from libraries, pharmacies and some testing sites.