March 10, 2020 3.15 pm This story is over 50 months old

Coronavirus cuts short Lincoln village school’s ski trip to quarantined Italy

Pupils will need to self-isolate for two weeks
The Courmayeur trip was cut short. Photo: Leo-setä and Flickr

A Lincoln village school that arrived in Italy just before coronavirus put the country into lockdown was forced to abandon the ski trip.

Sir William Robertson Academy in Welbourn had sent around 80 people including students and staff for the trip to Courmayeur in north-west Italy this weekend.

The headteacher said there were no restrictions in place when they headed out, but as soon as they got there the Italian government extended its emergency measures.

All of the pupils and staff are now back in the UK and have been put into self-isolation for the next 14 days.

Mark Guest, the headteacher, wrote in a letter to parents that they had been carefully monitoring the situation ahead of the trip.

The school also said it had considered alternative trips when the ski lifts were closed, but the insurance would not have covered the change in location.

Giuseppe Conte, the Italian Prime Minister, extended the COVID-19 lockdown to the rest of the country on Monday.

He ordered people to stay home, cancelled big events and said that people wanting to travel will need to seek special permission.

So far in the UK 373 people have tested positive for coronavirus and six people – all with underlying health conditions – have died.

The first confirmed Lincolnshire case recently returned from Italy. They might have infected others, who are being contacted by health authorities.