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A confirmed case of Covid-19 has been recorded in a Dublin school.
The HSE sent a letter to the parents of the children at St Kevin’s Boys School, Kilnamanagh, informing them of the case.
Parents at the Tallaght school were told in the letter: “A confirmed case of Covid-19 at your child’s school has been reported to the HSE East Department of Public Health.
“A public health risk assessment has been conducted and the parents of the children who are considered to be close contacts of the confirmed case have been contacted and informed accordingly.
“If your child has not been identified as a close contact at this time, your child does not need a Covid-19 test, they can continue to attend school, and no further action is required at this time.”
They were also told in the September 7 letter that if, however, their child developed any symptoms “suggestive of Covid-19 infection,” they should remove their child from school immediately.
The letter was written to the parents by Dr. Cale Lawlor, Senior Medical Officer, East Department of Public Health, Dr. Steevens Hospital, Dublin.
The letter emerged in Dublin when the first case of Covid-19 was detected at an elementary school in Munster over the weekend.
The case was confirmed at Scoil Bhríde Eglantine Primary School on the south side of Cork City on Sunday.
In the letter from the school principal, Eoin Kennedy confirmed the case among the “school community.”
He said he was in contact with public health officials and had contacted “relevant families.”
The Irish Examiner understands that the case relates to one pupil and has affected one class out of every 550 pupils who attend primary school for girls.
Dr Abigail Collins, Consultant in Public Health Medicine, HSE, tonight warned people not to, in effect, overreact to one-off reports of Covid-19 cases in schools.
He said that although one million children had returned to 4,000 schools across the country in the past two weeks, public health experts had a contribution of “just under 1%.”
Speaking at the National Public Health Emergency Team briefing tonight, he said: “It is really important to communicate if there is a case in a school that does not mean there is an outbreak.
“Right now there are cases in schools, but there are no confirmed outbreaks.”
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