School closed by authorities because of coronavirus case

A secondary school in South Lanarkshire has been closed due to a case of coronavirus.

Lanark Grammar School was closed by the local authority and health board.

The health board’s public health team are contacting staff and parents about the Covid-19 case at the school and plan to reopen on Monday, March 16.

The individual with coronavirus is self-isolating at home and NHS Lanarkshire said they are “giving no cause for concern”.

Dr John Logan, NHS Lanarkshire consultant in public health medicine, said: “We would like to reassure all staff and parents that the risk of contracting coronavirus from this individual is very low.

“Our public health team is in the process of identifying and contacting the limited number of people who were in very close contact with the confirmed case and issuing public health advice.

“We want to reassure these teachers and parents – and indeed everyone at this time – that they should follow the most up-to-date healthcare advice, which can be found on the NHS Inform website.

“We would like to thank everyone at the school for their cooperation and support. We are working towards reopening the school on Monday.”

Tony McDaid, executive director for education at South Lanarkshire Council, said: “The health and safety of our staff and young people are of paramount importance to us.

“As soon as we were notified of this matter we immediately met with NHS Lanarkshire’s public health officials and agreed that to close temporarily as a precaution would be the most appropriate step to take.

“We of course regret the inconvenience this will cause but hope parents, carers and others will understand our reasons for this course of action and fully support our decision.

“We will keep all parents, staff and teachers updated during this period.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We are aware that following an Incident Management Team meeting today (Thursday), a decision has been taken by NHS Lanarkshire to temporarily close Lanark Grammar School for deep cleaning.

“The Scottish Government fully supports their decision.”