The Nicholas

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The Number of children absent from school due to Covid has risen across the UK.

Secondary School pupils in England and Wales are being asked to wear masks again, to help slow the spread of the Omicron Covid variant.

What are The Rules about masks in schools in England?

In England, Secondary School pupils are, and should continue to wear them on school transport.

Staff and visitors in all educational settings should also wear face coverings in shared spaces, including primary schools and nurseries.

The guidance will be reviewed before The End of term.

What are The Rules in the rest of the UK?

In Wales, Secondary School pupils should wear face masks in the classroom as well as in communal areas. Staff and students in colleges and universities should also wear face coverings inside. The Rules will apply until The End of term.

In Scotland, face coverings have remained compulsory for Secondary School staff and pupils on school premises. Primary school staff need to wear masks in corridors and shared areas such as canteens and staff rooms.

In Northern Ireland , post-primary pupils must wear a face covering inside School Buildings , as well as on school and Public Transport . Staff are encouraged to wear masks in class and other school areas - But can remove them if they can socially distance.

How many pupils are missing school because of Covid?

The Number of pupils absent from school due to Covid has risen across the UK in recent weeks.

In England, show that Some , up from 1. 6% on 11 November after the half-term holiday.

In Wales, between 22 and 26 November 2021, up from 1. 6% the previous week.

In Scotland, This is up on the previous week, But still significantly lower than The Peak of early September when absences due to Covid were at 5. 7%.

In Northern Ireland , during The Second week of the autumn term, 8-12 November. A further 0. 8% of pupils were learning from home because they were self-isolating.

What are The Testing rules?

Across the UK, all school staff and Secondary School pupils are asked to do regular.

In the week ending 23 November, show that in England:

482,966 LFTS were carried out within primary schools and nurseries, a 5. 3% increase on the previous week787,154 LFTs were carried out within secondary schools and colleges, a 1. 1% increase on the previous week

Of those tests, 2. 2% linked to primary schools and nurseries tests were positive (10,846 cases), up from 2. 1% (9,650 cases) the week before.

Of tests linked to secondary schools and colleges, 1. 9% were positive (14,894 cases), the same percentage as the previous week (14,623 cases).

However there are More Than four million secondary students in England, so given they (and staff) should be testing twice a week, the expected number of tests (and therefore potentially positive cases) should be much higher.

What if you test positive?

Anyone with a positive LFT result must take a PCR test and isolate until they get a result, as must.

Anyone with a positive PCR test result must, But any classmates, siblings and fully-vaccinated parents or colleagues don't need to quarantine unless they also test positive.

However, all contacts of suspected Omicron cases will be contacted by or the equivalent contact tracing service and required to self-isolate for 10 days, regardless of their age or vaccination status.

What's happening about vaccination?

All children aged 12 and over will be offered two doses of the Pfizer jab.

16 and 17-year-olds - this will normally be given 12 weeks after their first12-15s - Some have already been invited for a second dose, But to allow all eligible children to make an appointment

No vaccine is currently approved for under-12s in the UK.

What other measures to prevent Covid are in place?

have been relaxed for schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland .

But head teachers can introduce anti-Covid measures if they wish, including restoring class or year group bubbles or suspending after-school activities.

In Scotland, more restrictions are being maintained. On school premises, staff must stay at least 1m (3ft) from pupils and colleagues.

Across the UK, Some schools have already cancelled festive shows and fairs, moved them outside or arranged to stream concerts and plays online.

Others are letting events go ahead after carrying out risk assessments, and are requesting that parents and children do Covid tests before attending, wear masks on school premises and use hand sanitizer.

What about ventilation?

The Department For Education promised in England to help identify areas with poor ventilation.

The Scottish Government has. It provided a further £10m in August for CO2 monitoring.

The Welsh Government has. Some 30,000 CO2 sensors and 1,800 ozone disinfecting machines will be made available.

Simple steps to improve classroom ventilation

schools, coronavirus outbreak

Source of news: bbc.com