Todholm Primary school, located in Renfrewshire, Scotland, has been shut for a week after a ‘suspected’ outbreak of the Omicron variant led to numerous members of staff and two class groups being required to self-isolate. Last week, approximately 14,000 school pupils in Scotland were recorded as absent for Covid related reasons. The Times has the story.
Todholm Primary, in Paisley, Renfrewshire, announced it had been forced to close for a week after a suspected outbreak of the Omicron variant meant it was unable to maintain necessary staffing levels.
Two class groups in P1 and another in P2 are self-isolating, as well as multiple staff members.
The number of pupils absent for Covid reasons throughout Scotland was holding steady at about 14,000 on Friday, some 2% of the total school roll.
NHS Highland has eight confirmed cases of Omicron, with some detected amid a “significant outbreak” of Covid linked to a music event at the Royal British Legion in Nairn on November 27th.
There have been 67 cases of coronavirus detected in Nairn in the past seven days, a rate of more than 400 per 100,000, above the national average of 250 per 100,000.
Greater Glasgow and Lanarkshire has the highest number of confirmed Omicron cases with 49.
Cases have also been detected in Forth Valley, Ayrshire & Arran, Fife, Grampian, Lothian and Tayside. Only the Borders, Dumfries and Galloway and the islands health boards remain free of the variant at present.
Dr. Christine Tait-Burkard, a Covid specialist at the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh, urged the public to follow new guidance to take a rapid test every time they go out in public.
Speaking on Lunchtime Live, on BBC Radio Scotland, she said: “We still don’t know very much more about Omicron.
“The continued information we get from South Africa is, on the positive side we continue to hear that it doesn’t seem to be as devastating in terms of symptoms when we compare it to Delta. Obviously we have to put caveats on that as South Africa has a different demographic of younger people.
“On the other hand we continue to see a very rapid spread in South Africa which is bad news, and we also see increased transmission in the U.K. Time will tell how much quicker that is next to Delta in a highly vaccinated society.”
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