Please find information relating to the outbreak of COVID-19 or the coronavirus and all actions being taken as a school. In the information from Public Health England, it identifies the countries affected and particular regions within these. We are monitoring the holiday destinations of all students and staff and following advice from the DfE and Public Health regarding how this is managed in school. Hygiene and hand washing is being promoted within school and we ask for your support with this.
Department for Education Coronavirus helpline
On Monday a new helpline was launched to answer questions about COVID-19 related to education. Staff, parents and young people can contact the helpline as follows:
Phone: 0800 046 8687
Email: DfE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk
Current advice remains in place: No school should close in response to a suspected (or confirmed) COVID-19 case unless advised to do so by Public Health England.
If you have returned from the following specific areas since Wednesday, 19th February 2020, you should call NHS 111 and stay indoors and avoid contact with other people even if you do not have symptoms:
- Iran
- Specific lockdown areas in Northern Italy (see link to maps below)
- Special care zones in South Korea (see link to maps below)
- Hubei province (returned in the past 14 days – see link to maps below)
If you have returned from the following areas since Wednesday, 19th February 2020 and develop symptoms, however mild, you should stay indoors at home and avoid contact with other people immediately and call NHS 111:
- Northern Italy (defined by a line above, and not including, Pisa, Florence and Rimini – see link to maps below)
- Vietnam
- Cambodia
- Laos
- Myanmar
If you have a cough, or fever or shortness of breath and have visited any of the following areas in the last 14 days, stay indoors and call NHS 111 informing them of your recent travel:
- China, apart from Hubei province (see link to maps below)
- Thailand
- Japan
- Republic of Korea, apart from special care zones (see link to maps below)
- Hong Kong
- Taiwan
- Singapore
- Malaysia
- Macau
Maps showing affected regions of China, Republic of Korea and Italy
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-specified-countries-and-areass
Advice for those who have travelled recently on a school trip - There is no need to manage returning groups any differently. Students and staff returning from trips to the countries specified above should follow the same advice.
Where to find the latest information
https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
Public Health England blog:
https://publichealthmatters.blog.gov.uk/2020/01/23/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-what-you-need-to-know/
Guidance for educational settings
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-educational-settings-about-covid-19
Government Coronavirus action plan
Yesterday, the Coronavirus action plan was launched. This document sets out what the UK as a whole has done to tackle the Coronavirus (COVID-19), and what it plans to do next.
The action plan can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-action-plan
The document includes:
· what we know about the virus and the disease it causes
· how we have planned for an infectious disease outbreak, such as the current coronavirus outbreak
· the actions we have taken so far in response to the current coronavirus outbreak
· what we are planning to do next, depending upon the course the current coronavirus outbreak takes
· the role the public can play in supporting this response, now and in the future |
Current advice remains in place: No school should close in response to a suspected (or confirmed) COVID-19 case unless advised to do so by Public Health England.
The importance of hygiene
Personal hygiene is the most important way we can tackle COVID-19, especially washing hands more; and the catch it, bin it, kill it strategy for those with coughs and sneezes.
Please help us in sharing simple and effective hand hygiene messages.
https://twitter.com/NHSuk/status/1235112744917049346
Public Health England has a dedicated webpage with a range of posters and digital materials at:
https://campaignresources.phe.gov.uk/resources/campaigns/101-coronavirus-/resources
Sign up is quick, free and means you will be alerted as more resources are made available.
Department for Education Coronavirus helpline
On Monday we launched a new helpline to answer questions about COVID-19 related to education. Staff, parents and young people can contact the helpline as follows:
Phone: 0800 046 8687 Email: DfE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday)
Where to find the latest information
Updates on COVID-19:
Guidance for educational settings:
Travel advice for those travelling and living overseas: