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The government has discussed the possibility of extending the October midterm hiatus in an effort to halt the spread of the coronavirus, but no decision has been made.
A government source said the idea of keeping schools closed for another week “has been briefly discussed,” but a decision has yet to be made. The source said such a measure was being introduced in Northern Ireland and several other EU countries and that it was also an option for the Republic if the spread of the virus continued in the coming weeks.
It is understood that the matter has only been brought up informally and to date no contacts have been made with unions or schools.
“The current state is not a decision, but it is possibly something to keep in the armor in case the numbers get worse,” added the source.
A spokesman for the Department of Education said in a statement: “No decision has been made to extend the schools mid-term vacation. To date, the evidence shows that schools have safely reopened with the backing of significant investment to support all infection prevention and control measures recommended by public health authorities.
“Keeping schools open safely for children and staff is a key priority at all levels of Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021: Plan for Living with Covid-19. At levels 1 to 4 inclusive, schools can remain open with protective measures, and at level 5, recommendations will be based on the situation and evidence at the time. “
He said that the Health Department in recent days “has informed the Department of Education and Skills that the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) has carefully examined this issue.
“By recommending that schools remain open today, even in the current trajectory of the disease, the Nphet has considered the national experience of reopening schools to date, including epidemiological data and information gathered through case management. and sprouts.
“The Irish experience to date supports the current international position that schools are low-risk settings for Covid-19 and are not key drivers of transmission in the community.
It notes that many school-related Covid-19 cases in Ireland have been found to have been exposed to the disease outside of the school setting.
As of Tuesday, 252 schools were completing some tests with 5,890 students and teachers involved in massive tests. Of the 252 schools that had massive testing, 112 additional cases have been detected in addition to the original cases.
Cabinet
Taoiseach Micheal Martin arrives at government buildings in Dublin to address the nation on Monday. Photography: Julien Behal Photography / PA
The Cabinet decided Monday that the entire country would move to Level 3 restrictions from midnight Tuesday for three weeks, until October 27. Schools will be closed mid-term from the public holiday Monday, October 26 through Friday, October 30.
However, according to the latest plan being considered, they would also remain closed the following week.
The cabinet subcommittee in charge of the Government’s strategy against coronavirus meets Friday to consider the latest advice from the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet).
The state’s public health team did not recommend a move to higher levels of restrictions after it met Thursday.
However, two high-level sources confirmed that Nphet remained very concerned about coronavirus infections and told the government that the situation should be closely monitored, but stopped short of recommending further restrictions.
The entire state joined Donegal and Dublin this week and entered Tier 3 in the Government’s five-tier coronavirus alert system. It has meant new restrictions on everyday life, including travel, indoor dining, weddings, and funerals.
On Monday, the government controversially rejected a recommendation from Nphet to move to the most severe level, Level 5, amid a public dispute between the government and its public health advisers.
On Thursday night, a source said there was “nothing too dramatic” at the last Nphet meeting and that it will take at least another 10 days to see if the current restrictions are reducing the spread of infections.
This is despite medical director Dr. Tony Holohan saying on Wednesday that he was more concerned about how Covid-19 is spreading in the state now than when the recommendation was made to the government to move to level 5.
“All the main indicators of this disease have worsened; our concern is growing and faster,” he said.
A letter has been sent to the Nphet government and will be considered in a cabinet subcommittee on Friday along with plans to improve enforcement of Tier 3 measures, including possible fines for those who violate travel restrictions.
‘Very worrying’
There was an additional virus-related death and 506 more cases of the disease reported by the Health Department on Thursday.
In Northern Ireland, another 923 cases of the disease were reported, the second highest daily total during the pandemic.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin told British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that Northern Ireland needed financial support to fight a “very worrying” increase in virus cases.
Prime Minister Arlene Foster warned that Northern Ireland was in a “grave and dire situation” and that Northern Ministers faced “some of the most difficult decisions” they have ever had to make.
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