Covid: Powys secondary school shuts for two weeks

Welshpool High School in Powys will remain closed until 7 December

A secondary school in Powys has been closed for two weeks after a spike in coronavirus cases.

Welshpool High School will be shut from Tuesday until 7 December, following outbreaks among at least three different year groups.

Head teacher Jim Toal said: "It saddens me to have to resort to this measure but there really isn't an alternative at this stage."

The school's 1,000 students have been told lessons will continue online.

Year 7 pupils at the school were told to self-isolate on 15 November, while Year 10 and 11 were told they would also need to stay home on Sunday.

However, a decision was taken on Monday to close the school entirely, following a review by staff and council officials.

"Despite the school's best efforts to mitigate the spread of infection a rapid growth of positive cases in the Welshpool area has led to a tipping point over the most recent weekend, and into this morning making further intervention essential," Mr Toal added.

"We continue to work with Environmental Health and Public Health Wales to identify those pupils who may be contacts of a positive case."

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Infection rates in the town now stand at 133.8 per 100,000 of the population over the last seven days.

The move follows decisions to close 13 schools on Monday across Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire.

Phyl Davies, who is responsible for education on Powys council, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "The rising cases at the school and in the community is now causing significant concerns for both the school's senior leaders and the council.

"Due to these concerns, it has been decided to keep the high school closed for two weeks to keep pupils and school staff safe."