Two coronavirus cases are confirmed at a primary school attended by vulnerable pupils as the site is closed for a deep clean
- Springfield Primary School in Spolton, Derby, has now closed for deep cleaning
- Everyone who came into contact with the two cases will have to self-isolate
- The news comes amid the government’s plans to reopen primaries from June 1
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Two coronavirus cases have been identified at a primary school attended by vulnerable pupils in Derby.
Springfield Primary School has been open for vulnerable children and those of key workers over the past few weeks, despite a nationwide closure enforced by the government in a bid to slow the spread of the killer bug.
Everybody who has been in contact with the two cases will have to self-isolate to prevent a further spread of the disease.
The school will also be closed for 14 days while deep cleaning is carried out, the Mirror reported.
David Blackwell, chief executive of the Odyssey Collaborative Trust, which runs the Springfield Primary in Spondon, said: ‘The diagnosis was reported to us on Thursday and so the school will close now for 14 days because all of those who were attending are now in self-isolation and there is no need for us to be open.’
‘We will be deep cleaning the school and carrying out additional cleaning.
‘But we are happy that the cases do not affect any other school in the trust and is confined to Springfield Primary.’
Springfield Primary School, above, will now be closed for 14 days while deep cleaning takes place
Schools were shuttered in March after Education Secretary Gavin Williamson revealed that this year’s summer exam series and SATS tests had been scrapped inan unprecedented move.
‘The spike of the virus is progressing at a faster pace than anticipated,’ he announced at the time of the closures.
‘This will be for all children except to those of key workers and children who are most vulnerable.
‘The scientific advice shows that these settings are safe for this small number of children to continue attending, but asking others to stay away will go towards helping us the slow the spread of this virus.’
Vulnerable children are those who have a social worker and those with an educational health and care plan.
Boris Johnson has since announced his five-stage easing of lockdown measures, and will reopen primary schools from June 1 – a more which has sparked backlash from parents and teachers nationwide.
England is also the only UK nation to set a date for schools to start to reopen.
Speaking to DerbyshireLive earlier this week about the Government’s drive to get pupils back into primary schools, Mr Blackwell said that keeping to Government guidelines and having 15 pupils in a classroom to ensure social distancing is almost impossible to achieve.
Mr Blackwell said: ‘These two cases emphasise what can happen very quickly in a school environment.
He added that Government guidance suggested pupil groups should be working with the same teacher all the time in a ‘bubble, but that ‘This would mean that if anyone had coronavirus confirmed in the group then only those children, and associated staff, would have to self-isolate and not the whole school.’
The National Education Union (NEU), which has 450,000 members, has described the Government’s plans as ‘reckless’ and advised teachers to ‘not engage’ with the move.
The NASUWT, the UK’s second largest teachers’ union, has also threatened to sue school heads if teachers were ‘expected to go into a school that is not safe’.