Dear Parents/Carers
Public Health England has issued tailored guidance for education settings, excerpts of which can be found below.
A coronavirus is a type of virus. As a group, coronaviruses are common across the world. Typical symptoms of coronavirus include fever and a cough that may progress to a severe pneumonia causing shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.
Generally, coronavirus can cause more severe symptoms in people with weakened immune systems, older people, and those with long-term conditions like diabetes, cancer and chronic lung disease.
Novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is a new strain of coronavirus first identified in Wuhan City, China.
If you have travelled from Wuhan or Hubei Province to the UK in the last 14 days you should immediately:
Please follow this advice even if you do not have symptoms of the virus.
This advice applies to travellers who have returned to the UK from the following areas:
If you have returned to the UK from any of these areas in the last 14 days and develop symptoms of cough or fever or shortness of breath, you should immediately:
Please follow this advice even if your symptoms are minor.
The NHS website (https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/) has more information about how you can reduce the possible spread of infection.
Currently there are minimal cases outside the risk areas and therefore the likelihood of an individual coming into contact with a confirmed case is low.
There is no need to advise any of these pupils, student or staff to avoid normal activities or educational settings unless they have had contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19.
If individuals are aware that they have had close contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19 they should contact NHS 111 for further advice.
British people travelling and living overseas following the outbreak of novel coronavirus should check the Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel advice.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has advised UK nationals to leave China where possible. If the situation continues to escalate the pressure on the Chinese health system may intensify, and it may also become harder for people to travel.
This change does not affect our advice for those returning from Wuhan or mainland China.
Based on current evidence, novel coronavirus (COVID-19) presents with flu-like symptoms including a fever, a cough, or difficulty breathing. The current evidence is that most cases appear to be mild. Those who have died in Wuhan appear to have had pre-existing health conditions.
The National Institute of Clinical Excellence have recommended resources to teach pupils about hygiene in childcare and educational settings, e-Bug resources - https://campaignresources.phe.gov.uk/schools.
Should anyone wish to discuss this further, please feel free to contact Jeremy Edwards (Deputy Headteacher) or Chris Holmes (School Health)