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Several pupils have been sent home from a primary school in West Dublin after a positive case of coronavirus.
The case is the second linked to a school in as many days, with a primary school in southwest Dublin sending a classroom of pupils home for two weeks on Tuesday after a confirmed case.
The person who tested positive and other pupils deemed “close contacts” are understood to have been sent home from the West Dublin Primary School, which is several kilometers from the other school where there was a case.
The last positive test was confirmed Tuesday, and the school informed the parents shortly thereafter. The coeducational primary school has more than 200 students.
It is understood that the majority of the class were considered to be close contacts of the student and will now isolate themselves for two weeks at home, while waiting for two rounds of Covid-19 testing.
All family members of a child with suspected Covid-19 symptoms should isolate themselves while the child awaits a test. However, this requirement will not be extended to other children in the class sent home from school, unless they begin to show symptoms.
Under current HSE guidelines, all students in a class will not automatically be referred for testing if there is a confirmed case of coronavirus.
The number of students in a class that is considered “close contacts” of students who test positive for Covid-19 and are referred for the test will be “variable” for each classroom and school, according to the HSE guide.
In elementary schools, where students are divided into smaller groups called “clusters,” the other students in a group are likely to be considered “close contacts” of a case. However, students in other groups in the classroom would not be, and as such would not be referred for testing.
In a statement, the Dublin and Dún Laoghaire Education & Training Board (DDL ETB) confirmed that there had been a positive case associated with one of their schools in West Dublin.
“All the necessary hygiene, health and safety protocols are in place for the prevention and containment of the virus, which is a general public health problem,” said a spokesman.
“All relevant close contacts at the school have been identified, contacted and notified about next steps,” he said.
“The school continues in full operation. In accordance with back-to-school protocols, close contacts have been asked to stay at home, where distance lessons will continue to be provided through online systems. ”
In a letter sent to parents Tuesday, the school said that all those who had not been contacted by the HSE and informed that they were “close contacts” on the case should attend school normally.
Dundalk Company
Meanwhile, Chinese biopharmaceutical company WuXi has confirmed that six people at its Dundalk campus have tested positive for Covid-19 and another 20 are self-isolated according to public health councils.
On Wednesday, the company, which has about 1,700 people working on campus, 90 percent of whom are contractors, said it had been reported that six employees of two contracting companies engaged in construction work at the WuXi Biopharmaceutical campus. in Dundalk, Co Louth, they did tests. positive.
“It is understood that four of the six people who contracted the infection did so in a social setting outside the workplace,” the company said.
“Once a Covid-19 occurrence is reported, track and trace procedures are applied, and immediate co-workers are asked to test for Covid-19 and isolate themselves off-site for a period of 14 days as required by health authorities. In total, as of today, 20 contractor employees remain isolated. “
In 2018, the company announced a € 325 million investment in the Dundalk facility, which will become the world’s largest single-use contract manufacturing biologics production facility.
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