Parents worried after Edinburgh p4 class told to isolate more than a week after contact with Covid cases

‘It’s not good enough.” Parents of children at a city primary school say they are worried as p4 class was told to isolate more than a week after close contact with a positive covid-19 case.
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Parents of p4 pupils at East Craigs Primary were notified on the June 8 that their child was required to self-isolate, more than a week after a positive case was confirmed at the school.

The letter from NHS Lothian advised children to stay at home to June 10 – ten days after contact with positive case.

East Craigs Primary School 
PIC: Google Street ViewEast Craigs Primary School 
PIC: Google Street View
East Craigs Primary School PIC: Google Street View
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But following the delayed notice they were effectively asked to isolate for only 2 days – and had already attended a full school week during that period.

Worried parents claim that the lag has led to an outbreak at the school, which has 485 pupils.

It’s understood a second p4 class has recorded at least one more positive case this week.

Head teacher Sheila Scott said there had been “an administrative error” and acknowledged it would ‘cause some concern’ but asked parents to follow the guidance.

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Following the late notification pupils from p4 who were due to return on June 11 have been advised to stay home until Monday 14, while they wait for PCR test results.

Ms Scott said the decision was as an added precaution after further guidance from the council and NHS teams, a process which took “a considerable length of time”.

One parent whose son is in p4 said: “Finding out more than a week after your child has been exposed is just not good enough. A whole class has been mixing with others when they should have been isolating at home. I understand there is now a significant outbreak, exacerbated by the delay. The spread could have been minimised. This is the third time the class has had to isolate. Last time notification was delayed too. It’s a worry. We need to see where the checks and balances are when the system falls down like this, so it doesn’t keep happening.”

Ms Scott acknowledged this was the third time the class had to isolate but stressed it was “entirely circumstantial”

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Edinburgh has seen a rise in cases recently, recording 1000 cases in total over the last seven day period, which was a rate of 190.5 cases per 100,000 people.

A spokesperson for NHS Lothian said: "Notifications are issued as soon as the test and protect teams are aware of a positive case and can identify the required contacts. The process for this is reliant on the information that people give us and in some, albeit rare, instances this might not always be accurate or timely.

"Our Health protection teams continue to work really closely with schools and Edinburgh City Council when cases are identified to ensure that those who need to be notified are."

A council spokesperson said: “Due to an administrative error pupils were asked to self-isolate for two days only. We apologise for any inconvenience or confusion caused.”

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