Huge Covid outbreak shuts Dundee school as 17 staff test positive

Seventeen staff and two pupils have tested positive for coronavirus at a school which has now been shut until at least next week to undergo a deep clean.

All staff and children at Kingspark School in Dundee, which reopened along with other schools in Scotland on August 12, have been told to self-isolate for two weeks. 

NHS Tayside confirmed positive cases among three community contacts linked to the cluster at the school, which has about 185 pupils aged between five and 18.

All pupils at the school, which was purpose built in 2009, have additional support needs – with many also having additional physical disabilities or medical problems.

Health officials confirmed a single positive case has also been linked to the primary 2A class at St Peter and Paul’s School in the city.

A positive case has also been linked to Happy Times out-of-school club at Downfield Primary School in Dundee.

Meanwhile, a member of staff and two pupils at High Blantyre Primary School in South Lanarkshire have tested positive for Covid-19.

NHS Lanarkshire said adults and children connected to primary three or primary four had been asked not to attend class.

They will be offered testing on Wednesday and asked to self-isolate until they receive confirmation of a negative result.

Dr Josephine Pravinkumar, consultant in public health medicine, said: ‘We are aware that there will be concern among both children and their parents at this time.

‘We would like to reassure the local community that appropriate measures are being implemented.

‘Individuals should stay off school or work and get tested if they or their close contacts experience any Covid-19 symptoms, such as a cough, fever or loss of taste or smell, even if they are mild.’

Meanwhile restrictions have been placed on care homes across Tayside as authorities try to stem the spread of a coronavirus outbreak.

Indoor visits to the premises are due to restart across Scotland today, if deemed safe to do so.

However, the Tayside Incident Management Team (IMT) said this was not possible given the ongoing management of the cluster associated with the 2 Sisters factory, as well as other localised cases in the area.

Dr Emma Fletcher, associate director of public health for NHS Tayside, said: ‘The NHS Tayside Health Protection Team and colleagues in the three Health and Social Care Partnerships in Angus, Dundee and Perth and Kinross, together with other partner agencies, determined that the reintroduction of indoor visiting should not go ahead in Tayside at this time due to the ongoing situation at the factory and a number of other clusters and positive cases.

‘We know that this will cause a level of anxiety and disappointment amongst care home residents and their loved ones, however we must ensure that we do everything we can to protect care home residents, staff and their families as we continue to address the challenges that Covid-19 presents.’

There have been 110 positive cases linked to the factory cluster, including 96 workers and 14 community contacts.

All staff and their households, including children, have been ordered to self-isolate until August 31. That measure is in force even if they have a negative result.

Dr Fletcher added: ‘The increase in positive cases linked to the factory again today is in line with what we expected and we continue to undertake detailed contact tracing of all cases to ensure everyone fully understands what action they must take.

‘Over the last week in Tayside as a whole, more than 2,500 tests have been taken at the testing sites across the area, including the two dedicated facilities in Coupar Angus and Dundee brought in specifically to support testing of 2 Sisters factory workers.

‘Hundreds of workers have attended for testing and given the volume of testing which has now been completed, we expect positive cases to continue to rise in the coming days as tests are processed and we receive the results.’