School to remain closed after staff members catch Covid

A Fife primary school will remain closed until next week after three staff members tested positive for coronavirus.

On Sunday, NHS Fife confirmed that an individual linked to Sinclairtown Primary School in Kirkcaldy was self-isolating at home after testing positive for Covid-19.

As a precaution, all pupils from class P1A, P4 and some children from P2 were ordered to stay off school from Monday and quarantine for two weeks.

However on Wednesday, all children at the primary were told not to attend following a “small number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 with links to the school”.

The health board later confirmed three staff members were infected, and for staffing reasons the school building will remain closed until Monday.

The trio were said to be “experiencing mild symptoms” and are self-isolating at home with their household members.

NHS Fife said there is no evidence of transmission within the pupils at this stage, and based on the information available the health board believes the risk of transmission amongst the children “remains low”.

The pupils in P1A, P2 and P4 who were previously identified as potential contacts must continue to isolate at home as a precaution. Other pupils do not need to quarantine, but must not attend school.

Gordon Wardrope, Fife Council’s education manager, said: “As a result of positive cases of Covid-19 amongst school staff, all teaching staff at the school have been instructed to isolate pending further assessment by NHS Fife’s health protection team. This operational impact of this means we are unable to reopen the school before Monday, September 28.

“We appreciate this will create some anxiety, however, parents and carers should be assured that the safety of our pupils and staff remains our number one priority and we are continuing to follow public health advice around any actions required.”

A comprehensive list of questions and answers has been created for parents. A local online support hub has also been set up to provide information on testing for Covid-19 and updates on the pandemic.

Dr Lorna Watson, a consultant in public health medicine with NHS Fife, said: “NHS Fife’s health protection team is working closely with our colleagues at Fife Council’s education department to identify any close contacts of the positive cases in order to prevent onward spread of the virus.

“Contact tracing is a tried and tested method of reducing the spread of communicable viruses such as Covid-19 and has been used successfully over recent weeks and months to prevent other large-scale clusters of the virus from developing.”

To book a coronavirus test, click here or call 0800 028 2816.