Covid: Selby schools to continue mask-wearing

13 May 2021

Coronavirus

A child at school wearing a mask — Image caption,
Mask-wearing in schools has been recommended by the government

Children at secondary schools in Selby, North Yorkshire are being advised to continue wearing masks from next week because of a rise in coronavirus cases.

Face coverings will no longer be required in classrooms in England from Monday, according to the government.

However, in Selby a local outbreak has seen infection rates rise to the fifth highest level in the country.

Local director of public health Louise Wallace said students and staff should continue mask-wearing until half term.

Selby currently has 69.5 cases per 100,000 people in the week to 9 May, with the England average being 23.3 per 100,000 people, according to the latest BBC data.

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A graph showing lab-confirmed cases by date in Selby

Selby saw a spike in cases following a local outbreak and remains one of the highest infection rates in the county

Ms Wallace said the Covid infection rate in the town is "slowly" going down, but it is still the highest in North Yorkshire.

She added: "Our public health advice for secondary schools in Selby is to continue the use of face coverings for staff and students in classrooms and/or communal areas until May half term."

Selby High School principal Nick Hinchliffe said the government's change in guidance will not apply at his school, which has seen eight recent cases of coronavirus among students and staff.

A graphic showing new cases levelling off

Cases nationally have started to level off, according to government data

Ms Wallace said asymptomatic testing was under way and she was "optimistic" about the future, especially with the roll out of vaccines.

Schools in Derbyshire could also see the continuation of face coverings because of an outbreak in Erewash, which now has the second highest case rate in the country with 181 cases per 100,000 people.

A spokesperson for Derbyshire County Council added: "We will weigh up the health protection benefits of asking students to wear face coverings against the broader educational impacts."

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Cases are people who have tested positive for coronavirus. Public health bodies may occasionally revise their case numbers. Case rate by age only available for England. *The "average area" means the middle ranking council or local government district when ranked by cases per 100,000 people.
The case rate chart shows how many people have tested positive each day for every 100,000 people in that area. The dark blue line shows the average daily rate over the past seven days. This average helps to show whether cases are rising or falling. The case rate by age chart shows how many people have tested positive in each age group per 100,000 people. Steeper rises in older age groups are of more concern because older people are more likely to be badly affected by the virus and are more likely to need hospital care. The case rate by age shows a rate. This means the values for the two age groups cannot be added together to get the overall case rate in each area.
Source: UK public health bodies - updated weekdays.

Vaccines are data for first doses. England and Scotland data is by local authority, Wales is by health board area, Northern Ireland is national data. The percentages of people vaccinated is calculated using the most recent mid-year population estimates published by the Office for National Statistics. The actual size of the population in each area may differ and so the percentages are also estimates.
Source: NHS England, Public Health Wales, Public Health Scotland, gov.uk dashboard, Office for National statistics. England and Wales updated weekly. Scotland and Northern Ireland updated weekdays

Deaths are where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. The chart shows the number of deaths recorded each week per 100,000 people in that area. Covid deaths are in red, other deaths are in grey. The average is the monthly average of deaths in the last five years between 2014-2019. This average will continue to be used in 2021. Recording of deaths over Christmas and New Year was affected by the bank holidays - trends should be treated with caution.
Source: ONS, NRS and NISRA - data updated weekly.

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Covid: Selby schools to continue mask-wearing

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