Educational Institutions: Coronavirus

(asked on 16th July 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to review the self-isolation requirements in educational settings before the new school year.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 26th July 2021

In line with Step 4 of the roadmap, nurseries, schools, and colleges are no longer routinely required to undertake contact tracing for pupils and staff. Instead, those who test positive will be subject to the normal test and trace process, which will identify close contacts.

From 16 August 2021, children under the age of 18 years old, and staff who are fully vaccinated, will no longer be required to self-isolate if they are contacted by NHS Test and Trace as a close contact of a positive COVID-19 case. Instead, they will be advised to take a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. The Department encourages all individuals to take a PCR test if advised to do so.

18 year-olds will be treated in the same way as children up until four months after their 18th birthday to allow them the opportunity to get fully vaccinated, at which point they will be subject to the same rules as adults. Therefore, if they choose not to get vaccinated, they will need to self-isolate if identified as a close contact.

Nurseries, schools, and colleges will continue to have a role in working with health protection teams in the case of a local outbreak. If there is a COVID-19 outbreak or if central Government offers the area an enhanced response package, a director of public health might advise a nursery, school or college to temporarily reintroduce some control measures.

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