Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on whether contact tracers are required to follow up cases of covid-19 reported in schools.

Where a member of staff or child tests positive, contact tracers will ask the individual to provide details of their contacts.

Staff or the parents of children who test positive should inform their school immediately. The school will then take swift action to ask those who have been in close contact with the confirmed case to self-isolate. Schools can contact the dedicated Public Health England (PHE) advice service via the Department’s own helpline for support on the latest public health advice.

PHE’s advice service will work with the school to carry out a rapid risk assessment and make recommendations based on the latest public health advice. If, following triage, further expert advice is required, the adviser will escalate the call to the local health protection team.