Pupils from three secondary schools who returned from skiing in northern Italy ‘should be quarantined’ to reduce risk of infection, according to worried parents.
Parents with children at Spalding Grammar School and Spalding High School have contacted The Voice to say they fear coronavirus could spread through the school if any of the pupils or teachers on the trips contracted the virus which has seen towns in the country locked down in the hope of containment.
University Academy Holbeach also took a group of pupils on a trip to Italy during the half-term break.
Letters sent to parents from the schools said they are operating in line with advice from the government and Lincolnshire County Council.
A concerned parent, who kept their child home amid fears of the virus being carried back from Italy, said pupils were being tested for the illness last week and the decision to let the pupils and teachers return to school after the half-term trips showed a “lack of common sense”, while admitting the area wasn’t in the ‘Category 1’ quarantine areas. Government guidelines for people returning from one of the ten quarantined areas of Italy are they should “self-isolate” to stop the virus spreading.
Parents who have contacted the paper said those on the trip should have done this too, as a precaution.
“They should have been told to stay away from school, we just feel it’s a complete lack of common sense,” said a parent.
The virus typically takes two weeks to display, so parents and pupils still have a few days to wait to see if they’re all clear.
“It could be nothing but [the headteacher] has put everybody either in fear or at risk,” the parent continued.
“Everybody’s got seeds of doubt. [The headteacher] has rolled the dice. They should have done the sensible and safe thing.
“For the sake of one coach load of people not being in school for two weeks, they’ve put everyone at risk”.
Last Tuesday (February 25), two primary schools were closed for deep cleaning following “a potential connection to the coronavirus by an individual within school”.
The person was tested and the schools reopened last week.
