Regular Covid testing will be key to schools' return, says Norfolk County Council

As the county's schools prepare for Monday's return, Norfolk County Council has stressed the importance of regular Covid testing in the move towards a "more normal way of life".

The government's reopening plans include twice weekly testing for pupils at secondary school or college, and all staff, which will initially take place in school before moving to home testing. NCC is also encouraging increased community testing as restrictions are relaxed.

Dr Louise Smith, NCC director of public health, said: “The best way to move back to a more normal life is through regular testing and vaccination. Even if you’ve been vaccinated, you should still be tested, if you’re going to work or you are visiting a care home.

"We’ve done 13,000 community tests in Norfolk so far and we are encouraging businesses to sign up to receive testing kits.”

The number of Covid cases in Norfolk dropped by over a third last week, with 538 cases recorded in the week ending February 26, which was 294 fewer than the previous week.

Dr Smith said: "The number of Covid cases in Norfolk is dropping and we find this very encouraging because it starts to put us on that roadmap for coming out of restrictions. Case numbers have fallen steadily over the past weeks which is encouraging. Overall our trend across Norfolk is downward.

"It is inevitable that as we increase testing, reduce the restrictions and more people start to mix, that we will see more cases being identified. This is why early testing and the vaccination programme is so important. If we can pick up these cases early, we can prevent them from spreading.

"What we are clear about is that each step of the reduction of restrictions in lockdown is based on the data so we will be watching the cases very closely over the next month to see if we have the confidence to reach the next step. We’re not at the end of that process, we need to work our way through it."

With schools due to welcome students back from Monday, the pressure has been on to ensure everything is ready for the return to the classroom.

Chris Snudden, NCC's director of inclusion and learning, said: "We are confident that all schools will be open in line with the national expectations next week. We are really keen to encourage parents to return their children to school so that the rest of the term is an opportunity to get back to school life, in readiness to take full advantage of the summer term.

"It is important for children to go back to school, so younger children can see their friends and play, and teachers can get students back to learning ahead of the summer term. For older children it is going to be less about the socialisation and play, but it is going to be crucial for them to get back to school routines so we can make a flying start in the summer term."

NCC has been working closely alongside the county's schools to ensure they are set up and ready for next week. This has included providing testing training for staff and ensuring staff have access to PPE.

Ms Snudden added: "While there are still logistical challenges for some of our schools, the majority of them are well placed for in-school testing to begin from Monday. Schools are very well prepared for testing, they have undertaken training and I think they’re in a good space of readiness to carry that out effectively."

When asked whether parents who choose not to send their children back to school in the upcoming three weeks would face penalties, she responded: "It will not be our intention to penalise parents in these three weeks, we want to encourage parents to feel confident to send their children to school. There are some children we haven’t seen for some time and we would like to work closely with those families to make sure children return to school."

As the county enters the early stages of the government's roadmap for reducing lockdown restrictions, NCC are encouraging adults across Norfolk to take up twice weekly testing. When questioned about the reliability of lateral flow testing, Dr Louise Smith, NCC director of public health, said: "Lateral flow tests are very specific, if you get a positive result, there’s very good chance that test is correct so I would urge people to act on that result and self-isolate.

"The flow test will not pick up everybody who has Covid, they will pick up the people with the highest viral load, the most contagious. If you get a negative test, you could still have low levels of the virus or could go on to develop the virus. It’s not a replacement for hand washing, sanitiser and other safety measures."

NHS Norfolk and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group provided a vaccination update for the county.

Melanie Craig, Chief Executive, NHS Norfolk and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “Latest published data, as of Thursday 25 February 2021 shows that 40.1% of people aged 16 and over have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccination. Whilst this is great news, we continue to vaccinate at pace to ensure our most vulnerable patients receive a dose of the vaccine.

“Patients that have had their first dose in December will shortly start to receive their second dose and I encourage everyone to attend for their second dose. It remains vital that people continue to follow the latest government advice.

“We know a growing number of patients are receiving letters from the national booking system, inviting them to book their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Patients are reminded that when available appointments are booked, large scale vaccination sites will disappear from the system; when new appointments are added, sites will reappear.

“Patients have a choice – they can either wait to book an appointment as one appears on the national booking system or they can wait for their GP practice to contact them. It is vital that patients don’t call their GP practice to ask when they will be vaccinated – we are vaccinating in line with the JCVI guidance and will get to people as soon as we can.”