[ad_1]
The principal of a Cork primary school told RTÉ News that she believes a significant Covid-19 outbreak at the school could have been prevented if there had been more information sharing between public health authorities and the school.
Gaelscoil Uí Drisceoil has been forced to close for two weeks and today mass testing of the school’s 435 pupils, their teachers and other staff began.
The HSE warned of the closure after 17 students and staff were identified with the virus.
Since then, more cases have emerged among students and staff and also among family members in general.
Public health officials met this afternoon with the principal of the Glanmire school, as well as representatives of the patron entity, An Foras Patrúnachta, to discuss concerns related to the outbreak.
The school believes that the spread of the virus was related to a number of cases identified in the wider community involving people related to the school.
Those cases were identified by public health authorities, but the school says it was not alerted to them, so for a crucial period it remained completely unaware of the extent of the virus’ presence within the school.
Public Health automatically contacts a school when a positive case informs them that they have been attending it.
However, Gaelscoil Principal Uí Drisceoil has said she believes public health should contact school principals on a regular basis to verify any information they may receive.
A first case was identified at the school on November 15. Further tests over the next week identified more positive cases.
However, the school was not aware of other positive cases within the school community, which had been identified by public health prior to November 15.
We need your consent to upload this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage additional content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Review your data and accept it to load the content.Manage preferences
The school believes that if it had been informed of all the initial cases, it is likely that the contact tracing that would have occurred would have prevented the spread of the virus.
Glanmire School has 435 students. All school staff and students have been advised to restrict their movements for two weeks.
Director Siobhán Ní Chatháin has told RTÉ News that she is “beyond belief” because of what happened.
He stressed that he did not want to blame any member of the school community.
“The responsibility has to lie with the authorities. But the school cannot help the authorities if they do not have the information,” he said.
Ms. Ní Chatháin said that the authorities “did not fulfill their duty to care for the entire school community.”
Referring to what she calls “a major flaw” within the system, she said: “A school has no way of knowing for sure that there are live cases. Too much depends on what parents tell authorities.”
Ms. Ní Chatháin believes that an misplaced concern about the right to privacy could mean that other schools are in the same position.
She has asked that school principals be included in additional controls.
“A phone call to the director can establish whether there is a need to trace contacts or not,” said Ms Ní Chatháin.
RTÉ News has sought a response from the HSE on this point and is waiting for one.
In a previous statement confirming the outbreak, the HSE said the shutdown was a precautionary measure while the clinical public health risk assessment continued.
He said the Department of Public Health was in close contact with the school principal to assess the situation and provide advice and support to parents, teachers and students.
He said he wanted to acknowledge all the work done by the school to safely operate Covid-19 and to thank the principal and staff for their cooperation and support in assisting with the ongoing public health risk assessment.
[ad_2]