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The students have been sent home for a week after several children tested positive for coronavirus at a Limerick school.
Over the weekend, an urgent letter was sent to parents and guardians reporting “several” positive cases of Covid-19 in 6th grade students.
And officials decided that all students in this year group will stay home the rest of the week as a result of the outbreak.
They are expected to be allowed to return next Monday when the close contacts of the confirmed cases are tested.
Instead, all classes will be broadcast live and the rest of the school will resume normal operation.
(Image: Getty)
A letter sent on Sunday reads: “There are now several positive cases of Covid-19 in the sixth year.
“We are in constant contact with the HSE and our ETB on this matter and the HSE has advised that all 6th year students must stay home from Monday 10/12 to Sunday 10/18.
“This decision has not been taken lightly and is being implemented to protect 6th graders, their families, and our entire school community.
“Classes will be broadcast live from 8.50 am tomorrow and the teachers will deliver the lessons exactly according to the students’ schedule. I would like to remind you that we are very well prepared for this.
“If the HSE has not contacted you directly regarding identifying your child as a close contact, then your child does not need to be screened.”
Any close contact of confirmed cases is required to restrict their movements until test results are known, per HSE guidelines.
It comes after the Minister of Health insisted that there will be no extension of the medium-term pause to halt the growth of Covid-19.
Minister Stephen Donnelly said yesterday that the government is not considering extending the pause and using it as an opportunity to implement a switch lock.
The minister told RTE Radio One’s This Week program: “I can tell you that there is no plan to extend the recess. There will be no longer recess in the medium term.
“It is based on very good news from the schools, the teachers, the students, the principals have done an incredible job.
“I got a briefing this weekend on where we are and the evidence, I’m delighted to be able to say, is that schools are not contributing to an increase in numbers.”
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