Schools are safe and there is clear evidence of a very low rate of severe disease in children of primary and secondary school ages, Northern Ireland’s chief medical officer has said.
Professor Sir Michael McBride has written a letter to pupils, parents and staff outlining the current situation in schools.
He also said the public health grounds for keeping and supporting children at school are extremely strong.
And he said COVID is a mild self-limiting illness for the vast majority of children, and that risk of serious illness or death are extremely low for children.
His letter comes as the Public Health Authority takes over responsibility for contact tracing in schools from today (Friday).
“Having examined the evidence, I am confident that now is the right time to introduce a more targeted approach to the identification of close contacts of COVID cases in schools. I understand that some children, parents and staff may be worried about the change in approach. I would like to take this opportunity to explain why this is in the best interests of our children and young people.
“Schools are the best place for children and young people school attendance is vitally important for children and young people. A combination of school closures and COVID related absences have resulted in our children missing out on a significant amount of school during the last two academic years. While this was not something any of us would have wished for, at earlier stages of the pandemic the benefits to society of reducing the growth in the epidemic made this necessary. This is no longer the case,” he said.
“Schools are safe places for children and staff. The public health grounds for keeping and supporting children at school are extremely strong. We have evidence from recently published reports from Scotland and England that the vast majority of those identified as school close contacts and sent home to isolate during the last academic year did not go on to develop COVID.
“The English study found that over 98% of school close contacts did not develop COVID during the isolation period. Similarly the Scottish study found that 95% did not go on to develop COVID during the isolation period. Both included a period when Delta was emerging. Public Health Agency (PHA) has analysed data on over 18,000 students from our own schools who were asked to isolate because they were close contacts in school and the findings are very similar to those from those in Scotland.
“These findings from across the UK are consistent and support the move to a more targeted approach to the identification of close contacts as the correct and proportionate approach at this stage in the pandemic.”
In his letter he stated that studies from the UK Office for National Statistics have consistently found that teachers are not at increased risk of dying from COVID compared to the general working-age population.
“More recently a Scottish study published in the British Medical Journal on 2 September 2021 found that compared with adults of working age who are otherwise similar, teachers and their household members were not at increased risk of hospital admission with COVID.”
He stated that very few, if any, children or teenagers will come to long term harm from COVID due solely to attending school.
Public Health Agency staff will now undertake contact tracing.
“It is inevitable that there will continue to be cases of COVID in schools – this reflects transmission in the wider community. We know that there will be spikes in infection in some school communities.
“The PHA will continue to monitor cases in schools and will continue to have arrangements to respond to and support schools with large clusters and outbreaks. This new approach is in line with the approach being taken to schools in England, Scotland and Wales. The risk of COVID infection in any setting cannot be entirely eradicated but it can be reduced,” he added.