Covid: Cardiff primary school closes with 28 positive cases

Millbank Primary School has closed after five staff and 23 pupils were found to have the virus

A primary school has been forced to close after 28 cases of coronavirus were confirmed.

Five members of staff and 23 pupils at Millbank Primary School, in Cardiff, were found to have the virus.

The school is in Caerau east, Ely, which currently has the highest Covid rate in Wales.

Cardiff council said action had been taken in a bid to reduce the risk of further transmission.

A spokesman said: "Due to five members of staff having to self-isolate, the pupils have moved to blended learning at home, returning to face-to-face learning next week, after the isolation period has ended."

The case rate in Caerau east was 203.6 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days up to 14 May.

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That compares with the overall case rate for Wales of 9.58 per 100,000 people.

In a statement to parents last week, the school's head teacher Karen Brown, said it had been a "very unexpected and tricky week".

She said the staff were "on the mend" and no pupils had suffered from anything other than mild symptoms.

A council health and safety officer had carried out a "rigorous review" of Covid prevention measures and found everything was "fully in place and correct".

The school has carried out intensive deep cleaning.

It is thought the cases may have started asymptomatically among a small number of pupils and then spread.

Parents are being asked to stay alert for symptoms and to arrange for a PCR Covid test for their child if needed.