Schools close over coronavirus cases in England

Buildings will undergo cleaning while pupils and staff stay home

At least two schools in England have shut their doors to all students this week over a confirmed coronavirus case.

Outwood Academy Danum in South Yorkshire said they have closed until next Monday after a member of their community tested positive.

In Leeds, “an isolated case of Covid-19” has been confirmed in three schools, with one primary shutting temporarily, according to the city council.

Children and staff from Hovingham Primary School will be staying at home all this week due to “the vulnerabilities of the community”.

Sacred Heart Catholic Primary and Crossgates Primary will stay open but people in the “bubble” – a set group designed to reduce contact – of the infected person cannot come in.

Other schools around the country – including in Bournemouth and Burnley – shut temporarily or kept children in certain bubbles at home in recent weeks after coronavirus cases were confirmed, according to local media reports.

Another Doncaster school recently closed for a week after a teacher tested positive.

Saleem Tariq, the director of children and families for Leeds City Council, said on Sunday: “An isolated case of Covid-19 has been confirmed in three Leeds primary schools.

“Each of the schools has taken appropriate and immediate action by closing the ‘social bubbles’ affected, and those children and staff will now stay at home and self-isolate for 14 days in line with the national test and trace programme."

He added: “Due to the vulnerabilities of the community that it serves, Hovingham Primary School has closed to all children and staff for the rest of this week to enable a deep clean of the whole school building to take place.”

It will reopen on Monday, Mr Tariq added.

In Doncaster, Outwood Academy Danum said they would be closed from 22 June for a week after a confirmed coronavirus case in the “Academy community”.

“The closure is a precautionary measure and gives us the opportunity to undertake even greater cleaning of the buildings and site,” a notice on their website said, adding the school hopes to welcome back ”key students” from next Monday.

The academy, which teaches children aged 11-19, said they had not taken the decision to close “lightly”, but said they have an ”absolute commitment to trying to keep our students, our staff and our community safe”.

Children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 started going back to school at the start of June after staying at home for weeks due to coronavirus.

Schools, sixth forms and colleges were also told to start providing more face-to-face contact for Year 10 and Year 12 students this month.

However, the education secretary has said it is no longer the government’s plan to get all primary school children back for a month before summer as initially hoped.

Gavin Williamson suggested last week the two-metre social-distancing rule could be relaxed for classes of up to 30 children to allow all students to come back in September.