Covid-hit Cork School Parents Want Cases Reported Immediately

Schools must be automatically and immediately informed of a positive Covid case involving a student or staff member.

That’s according to Gaelscoil Uí Drisceoil’s parents in Glanmire, the elementary school recently closed as a precautionary measure after a large outbreak saw 17 students test positive for Covid-19.

The temporary closure of the school has had an impact not only on the children and staff members, but also their wider families, according to the parents.

In addition to causing concern, it has also had a financial impact on parents, who had to take time off from work to isolate themselves, or who experienced collateral effects on their businesses.

Parents have identified four areas that they believe should be immediately amended by HSE to prevent a repeat of what happened at their school. The group has started an online petition that has so far accumulated more than 1,000 signatures.

It reads:

According to HSE’s current public health guidance, a school is only informed if a parent gives public health permission to share that information. ”

This means that public health guidelines can be ignored, he claims, and delays the risk assessment performed by public health officials.

Very important.

This request is from parents at Glanmire schools, where students were exposed to and infected with COVID as a direct result of the school not being informed of the positive cases by HSE.

Several families have now been exposed and put themselves at risk. #edchation https://t.co/TajrQqUXjg pic.twitter.com/0I6jFEbUh3

– Trina Golden (@CatrionaGolden) December 2, 2020

Other issues identified include the “time lag” between when principals are informed of a positive case at a school and when principals are prohibited from sharing information about a positive case.

The HSE has important powers with respect to data sharing in cases of notifiable diseases, according to Fiona Uí Bhuachalla, president of the school’s parents’ association.

“There is no legal reason why the HSE cannot allow schools to obtain correct information from them as a matter of procedure and secondly obtain it immediately and be able to share it properly with the class. There is no barrier under the GDPR that restricts or prevents them. “

There should be an “appropriate mechanism” in which directors can alert vulnerable contacts, he added. “They need to be able to alert them immediately not to come to school until the HSE protocol is fully implemented and people are properly contacted.”