Primary school closes due to outbreak of Covid-19 Omicron variant

A primary school in Renfrewshire has had to close its doors because too many staff are isolating after an outbreak of the new Covid-19 Omicron variant.

Todholm Primary in Paisley shut on Monday for five days after NHS Test and Protect identified several close contacts in the school community.

Because of the number of staff affected, classes have been moved to remote learning with Renfrewshire Council apologising to parents but reassuring them that it was not a public health matter.

After identifying positive cases, public and environmental health teams carried out a risk assessment and measures in place in the school were described as “robust”.

As of Monday, there have been 71 cases of Omicron in Scotland.

The first nine identified cases were all linked to one birthday party, while a further six confirmed last week were linked to a Steps concert at Glasgow’s Hydro.

A Renfrewshire Council spokesperson said: “Todholm Primary School is temporarily closed this week (Monday 6 to Friday 10, December).

“This follows NHS Test and Protect contact tracing that requires members of the school community to self-isolate, including school staff. This is due to Covid-19 cases linked to the school confirmed as being, or with the potential to be, the new Omicron variant.

“Due to the number of staff asked to self-isolate we have taken the decision to close the school and to switch to remote learning.

“The decision has been taken as we are unable to maintain appropriate staffing levels and is not a public health decision.

“Following identification of cases, a further risk assessment was carried out by public health and environmental health teams and all appropriate health and safety measures were found to be robust.

“We have apologised to parents for any disruption and will keep them updated.”