March 22, 2021 12.30 pm This story is over 36 months old

30 Lincolnshire schools report 62 positive COVID cases

Over 71,000 lateral flow tests carried out
Attendance levels haven't gone back to pre-pandemic levels | Photo: Adobe Stock / Monkey Business

Thirty schools in the county reported 62 positive test results for coronavirus in the seven days leading up to Friday, March 19, according to Lincolnshire County Council.

The comes after 71,146 lateral flow tests were carried out in Lincolnshire schools between Friday, March 12 and Thursday, March 18, of which 85 were positive.

This is an increase from when 18,889 tests were carried out between March 5 and 11, of which 15 were positive. Then, between March 10 and 16, the county council said there where 31 schools who reported 56 positive tests.

Huttoft Primary And Nursery School near Alford said that the school and nursery will be closed to all pupils on Monday.

The school said on Sunday that after another two positive COVID-19 cases it was provisionally closing the Year Reception/1/2 bubble for the remainder of term.

Later in the day another positive case was revealed, causing the provisional closure of the Year 5/6 bubble for the remainder of term, conditional on the result of the PCR test.

St George’s Church of England Community Primary School was the only school reported to the council to have fully closed last week.

The school remains closed on Monday, March 22. The reopening of the school will be done in stages, with the dates relating to when positive cases were confirmed in each bubble.

Classes will return on different days between Tuesday, March 23 and Friday, March 26 .

Data is not available regarding the number of pupils/bubbles sent home by schools in the county.

Andy Fox, consultant in public health for Lincolnshire County Council, said: “Schools continue to take measures to limit the potential spread of the virus and will inform parents of positive cases where necessary.

“However, in some cases, the person testing positive may have already been out of school, meaning there is no impact on other pupils or staff.

“It’s also important to remember that, due to the expansion of testing at home for staff, pupils and parents, positive cases may not be the result of transmission within school.”