Covid: Pupils tested as case found in Notre Dame school pupil

Pupils in four year groups from the school are due to be tested

A case of Covid-19 spread through the community has been discovered in a Guernsey school.

The pupil at Notre Dame Primary School, who has not left the island in the past 14 days and has no links to a known case, tested positive on Tuesday.

As a result, all pupils in Years 3 to 6 will be tested and have been asked to self-isolate until they have received a negative test result.

Parents and carers have been urged to wait to be contacted by Public Health.

Other members of the pupils' households do not need to self-isolate at present.

Anyone not contacted by Public Health should "carry on as normal", unless experiencing Covid-like symptoms, no matter how mild, when they should follow the usual procedure of contacting the clinical helpline to arrange testing.

The case is the only one of the 49 known cases in the island to have spread within the community.

Director of Public Health, Dr Nicola Brink said: "Instances of community seeding are to be expected as we adjust to living with Covid.

"Our robust contact tracing measures along with our high vaccination rate means we are well placed to minimise onward transmission.

"It is worth noting that all schools have had additional safety measures in place since the start of the pandemic, including hand sanitising on entry and general good hygiene."

Fully vaccinated travellers have been able to travel to the island without testing or quarantine since 1 July.

The last time community seeding was discovered was in January and led to the island's second lockdown, which lasted 57 days.

Mask use, increased hand washing and social distancing were among measures recommended in Alderney on Friday after cases were discovered in the community and later in the island's school.

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