More than HALF of schools in England had coronavirus cases in November, report finds

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More than HALF of schools in England had coronavirus cases during first fortnight of November’s lockdown, surveillance report reveals

  • Infection rates were highest among secondary school pupils, the survey found
  • They were lowest in primary school staff, with primary pupils also lower
  • Teenagers have high rates of coronavirus but officials refuse to close schools
  • ONS survey is the first of its kind to look at asymptomatic cases in education

By Sam Blanchard Senior Health Reporter For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

More than half of schools in England had coronavirus cases during the first two weeks of November’s lockdown.

A report from the Office for National Statistics shows that of 105 schools that had mass testing between November 3 and 19, 58 found one or more positives.

The same number of schools found one case as found multiple – 29 in each category (27.6 per cent of the total).

Infection rates were highest among secondary school pupils in the study, and lowest in primary school staff, the report found.

Although teenagers have had some of the highest infection rates in the country during the second wave, closing schools is no longer included in lockdowns because of the long-term damage experts fear it could do to young people.

The ONS survey was conducted on 9,662 staff and pupils in 63 secondary schools and 43 primaries.

Two thirds of the schools were in areas with relatively high rates of coronavirus – the statisticians said the survey results were not representative of the whole of England because choosing high prevalence areas meant there was bias, likely to the North.

One of the study’s lead investigators said it showed ‘a significant number of students and staff who were attending school had coronavirus infection’.

The ONS survey found that in the worst-affected parts of the country 1.47 per cent of school pupils and 1.5 per cent of staff tested positive for coronavirus.

This is equal to around one in every 67 people.

In areas that had lower rates of officially diagnosed coronavirus the survey found 0.79 per cent of pupils and 0.87 per cent of staff were infected without knowing – around one in 124.