Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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105. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the procedures followed by schools in relation to tracing close contacts of a confirmed case of Covid-19 in the school when a member of staff or student tests positive; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32229/20]

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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106. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if there have been changes to the tracing of close contacts, including the definition of a close contact in the case of a positive case of Covid-19 in both primary and secondary schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32230/20]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 105 and 106 together.

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre and the HSE have published guidance for managing potential cases of COVID-19 in educational settings, which includes the testing strategy within schools. All schools were provided with the HSE document titled: “Schools Pathway for Covid-19, the Public Health approach”, setting out the approach to managing isolated confirmed cases of COVID-19 within the school community, and also the principles that will underpin the management of outbreaks or potential outbreaks and the aligned testing strategy within an educational facility. There has been no change to the  definition of close contact in the school setting.  

COVID-19 testing, and the broader public health response to COVID-19 infections in a school is led and managed by the local HSE Public Health team. All decisions as to appropriate actions following a confirmed case or outbreak will be made by their teams in the context of a full Public Health Risk Assessment procedure.  This involves the HSE Department of Public Health liaising directly with the designated school contact, usually the school principal. 

My Department is working closely with the HSE Department of Public Health to ensure that public health measures are acted upon speedily by schools and areas of concerns raised by schools are addressed. As part of this close collaboration, the HSE Department of Public Health are in the process of establishing school focused teams in their respective public health areas to further assist schools while risk assessment are being conducted and to provide assistance and guidance to schools in instances where members of the school community may be a suspected or confirmed case.  

This is an important measure of reassurance and support for schools on their return from mid-term break. In the interim My Department will liaise with individual schools in the event of a suspect or confirmed outbreak to ensure that Public Health teams are alerted so that appropriate follow up action is taken.  

My Department will also continue to work with the HSE Department of Public Health to ensure that testing is prioritised for those close contacts within the school community of confirmed COVID-19 cases.  

It is important to note that the experience of public health to date is that transmission rates of Covid-19 in schools are low, much lower than the rate currently in the community. This is a result of the effectiveness of the public health guidelines for schools and the successful implementation and adherence of all in the school community to the guidelines.