Coronavirus outbreaks confirmed at ten Northamptonshire schools

Health officials reveal 38 linked cases but overall attendance is only down a fraction
Public Health Northamptonshire figures show the rise in Covid-19 casesPublic Health Northamptonshire figures show the rise in Covid-19 cases
Public Health Northamptonshire figures show the rise in Covid-19 cases

Schools are dealing with upwards of ten Covid-19 outbreaks in Northamptonshire.

Latest official figures revealed at Friday's media briefing showed 38 cases are associated with the outbreaks — defined as two or more cases linked by place and time to one setting — with scores more students learning at home while self-isolating.

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Ten outbreaks, up from four a week earlier, is the number up to October 12 and sure to rise when the latest data is published later this week.

The number of cases involved more than doubled from 16 the week earlier.

But the overall attendance is just a fraction down on what it was 12 months ago.

Director of Public Health Lucy Wightman said: "We are very please that despite challenges and a slight increase in numbers we are managing to keep schools open with a high level of pupils attending.

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"Schools are working with us and and with Public Health England to maintain a safe environment and mitigate risks where they appear.

Northamptonshire's Director of Public Health, Lucy WightmanNorthamptonshire's Director of Public Health, Lucy Wightman
Northamptonshire's Director of Public Health, Lucy Wightman

"In fact, a lot of contact tracing information has given insight that quite a lot of the spread is coming from outside schools, where children are socialising."

Eight of the outbreaks were in Northampton, one in East Northamptonshire and one in South Northants.

Four clusters — two more cases in the same setting but not connected by time and place — have also been identified, three in Northampton and one in Wellingborough.

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Latest Government figures published on Sunday show Northamptonshire has seen 701 new positive Covid-19 tests in the last week. Acute hospitals at Northampton and Kettering are treating 12 coronavirus patients in intensive care units, while four fatalities in county in the last ten days have been linked with the virus either by a positive test or mention of Covid-19 on the death certificate.

Northamptonshire remains in the the lowest tier of Covid-19 restrictions and mixing with different households is still allowed within the rule of six although officials it could be moved into the "high risk" category unless spread of the virus slows considerably..

But with the number of cases continuing to rise, Mrs Wightman issued a plea for parents and students not to carried away once schools break-up for half-term holiday on Friday.

She added: "Just because you can do something at tier one, doesn't mean you should — particularly with mixing households."