Parent response praised as Papdale COVID figures rise

More than a fifth of Papdale Primary pupils were absent from school today, amid the discovery of a number of COVID-19 cases among children and staff.

NHS Orkney and OIC have confirmed that the number of positive PCR COVID-19 cases among pupils has risen from five on Tuesday to 12 as of lunchtime this Wednesday.

A further 23 PCR tests have been requested.

According to the council, of the 440 pupils at the school, 93 were absent on Wednesday from the school, of which many were due to a variety of COVID-related reasons. While some were self-isolating after being contact traced, others stayed home from school as they awaited a PCR test. A small number of parents have also chosen not to send their child or children to school.

OIC’s education department says it has been responding to the cases at Papdale in a manner set out by  Scottish Government and Public Health guidelines. This involved the send out of targeted “warn and inform letters”  to parents of children in the affected classes — P3, 6 and 7. These letters advised them of the situation at the school. In addition, head teacher Wendy Bowen, has written to all parents to reassure that all necessary mitigating steps are being taken.

Mrs Bowen said: “Orkney and our school communities have fared well during the pandemic and it’s only in recent months that we have started to see a significant rise in cases to the point that we are now witnessing a much wider community transmission, as confirmed by NHS Orkney Public Health.

“I want to reassure all members of the school family that we do understand your concerns — we are all part of the wider Orkney community — and we all wish to keep each other as safe as possible.

“We are following Scottish Government and Public Health guidance and sent ‘warn and inform’ letters to the children in the affected year groups. These being P3, P6 and P7.  Should other year groups be affected letters will be sent to them.

“We continue to follow the mitigations that we have put in place as per the guidance. Classes affected have been deep cleaned each evening. Children are being asked to only bring essential items into school.

“If your child has no symptoms, you can test your child with a lateral flow test. Should your child record a positive lateral flow test then the whole household should isolate and book a PCR test.

“We would ask at this time that you are vigilant to the symptoms of COVID 19 (a new or continuous cough, loss of taste/smell or high temperature.)  Should your child have symptoms book a PCR test and your household should isolate. Please follow all public health guidance.  We would ask that you keep the school informed of any positive test results.”

Across Orkney, 39 postive COVID-19 cases have been recorded during the past 24 hours.

NHS Orkney has said these cases are a mixture of household contacts, travel and working environment contacts amongst others. The health authority has said this increase in cases was not unexpected.

OIC’s executive director of education, leisure and housing, James Wylie, has praised the response by parents and carers to the recent cases at Papdale.

He said: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank parents and carers for continuing to put their children into school and for their faith in the mitigating measures in place given, what we do understand, are concerning times.

“We would urge parents to continue to do this as long as their child/ren are well and are not displaying any COVID symptoms. The past 20 months have been so challenging for all manner of reasons, but last year in particular, our children missed out on a so much of their educational journey and social interaction which is so important for their well-being.

“We would stress that it is vital for secondary pupils and all staff to continue participating in the twice-weekly testing, to log the results online and for everyone else in the community to stick to the guidance of wearing face coverings when inside, keeping the required distance from others and to maintain handwashing and sanitising.”

If you develop COVID-19 symptoms, however mild, or if you have a positive lateral flow test, you must immediately self-isolate with your household and book a PCR test.

This is regardless of your vaccination status.

You can book a PCR test by calling the COVIDAssessment Centre on 01856 888211.

NHS Orkney is urging the community to continue with twice-weekly lateral flow tests for anyone who doesn’t have COVID symptoms, and to record these results online.