COVID-19 Update (Feb 2022)
Dear Parents/Carers,
Welcome back, I hope that you all had a restful half-term break. I want to share with you the plans moving forward in light of the new Covid regulations.
COVID-19 Update
On Monday, 21st February the Prime Minister set out the next phase of the government’s COVID-19 response ‘Living with COVID-19’.
Further information on what this means for education and childcare settings and children’s social care services is below.
Changes to testing in education and childcare settings and children’s social care services
From Monday 21 February, the Government has removed the guidance for staff and students in most education and childcare settings to undertake twice-weekly asymptomatic testing.
Changes to self-isolation and daily testing of close contacts
From Thursday 24 February, the Government will remove the legal requirement to self-isolate following a positive test. Adults and children who test positive will continue to be advised to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for at least 5 full days, and then continue to follow the guidance until they have received 2 negative test results on consecutive days. In addition, the Government will:
· No longer ask fully vaccinated close contacts and those aged under 18 to test daily for 7 days, and remove the legal requirement for close contacts who are not fully vaccinated to self-isolate.
· End self-isolation support payments, national funding for practical support and the medicine delivery service will no longer be available.
· End routine contact tracing. Contacts will no longer be required to self-isolate or advised to take daily tests. Staff, children and young people should attend their education settings as usual. This includes staff who have been in close contact within their household, unless they are able to work from home.
· End the legal obligation for individuals to tell their employers when they are required to self-isolate.
Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advice on COVID-19 vaccination for healthy 5 to 11 year olds
The NHS is currently offering vaccines to at-risk children and those who live with immunosuppressed people in this age group. Parents and guardians of at risk 5 to 11 year olds should wait for the NHS to contact them, with local NHS teams already contacting those who are eligible.
On Wednesday 16 February, the government accepted the advice from the independent JCVI to make a non-urgent offer of COVID-19 vaccines to all children aged 5 to 11 in England.
The JCVI advice follows a thorough review by the UK’s independent medicines regulator, the MHRA, which approved Pfizer’s paediatric vaccine, as safe and effective for children aged 5 to 11.
Children without underlying health conditions are at low risk of serious illness from COVID-19 and the priority remains for the NHS to offer vaccines and boosters to older age groups and vulnerable children, as well as to catch-up with other childhood immunisation programmes.
The NHS will prepare to extend this non-urgent offer to all children during April so parents can, if they want, take up the offer to increase protection against potential future waves of COVID-19, as we learn to live with this virus.
School Attendance
School attendance is mandatory for all pupils of compulsory school age. It continues to be a priority to ensure that as many children as possible are regularly attending school.
Please continue to keep us fully updated on your situations at home and you have all done so well up to date. This means that we can get information out to all our families as soon as possible.
Thank you for your continued and much appreciated support.
Kind Regards
Mr Taylor