Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 November 2020
1252. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Health his plans to have school specific contact tracing teams; the detail of same; the way in which it will be delivered; when it is planned to roll this out; and the role they will carry out [32778/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraFollowing the return of students to primary schools, secondary schools and various after school services at the end of August there is now a demand for testing of groups of students where a detected case has been linked to a school setting. To cater for this new testing pathway both a working and steering group were set up to define a clear and concise process for schools testing. This group has developed a testing pathway, templates for data collection and communication materials with the Department of Education and Skills.
As of October 27th, 731 schools have had/are having some testing completed based on a Public Health Risk Assessment. From the 731 schools that had mass tests, an additional 531 detected cases have been identified over and above original cases. 17,603 students and teachers have been involved in mass testing.
HSE Public Health Doctors recently met with education stakeholders including the teacher unions. The HSE acknowledged the incredible effort made in all school communities throughout the country to operate in a Covid-19 safe manner. The measures that are in place are robust, and the safety of staff and children is of paramount concern.
Evidence shows that those efforts have proven very successful. Clearly the increase of Covid-19 cases in the community does pose a challenge as there will be more cases in schools as a result, but it is important to note that schools are not amplification settings for cases of Covid-19. Testing data from schools is reassuring, with a positivity rate of 2.3% of close contacts across all school sectors.
The rise in cases overall in the community and in the positivity rate has challenged the HSE and Public Health Departments considerably over the last weeks, and this has had an impact on response times in schools. The HSE is aiming to have processes strengthened by the time schools return after the midterm break. Support teams are being put in place across the HSE's Departments of Public Health with this in mind.
