April 30, 2021 4.20 pm This story is over 34 months old

No “significant increase” in school COVID cases since return from Easter break

Low pupil positivity rate

Lincolnshire health bosses said there has been no “significant increase” in school COVID cases since pupils returned to the classroom from their Easter break.

This comes as in the seven days up to April 30, 10 local schools reported 15 positive test results. Between April 19 and 25, over 56,000 lateral flow tests were carried out in schools, testing both students and staff, of which 31 were positive – a positivity rate of under 0.1%.

Health bosses said outbreaks at schools remain small, with the largest being one at a Lincolnshire academy, but this was an outbreak of under 10 individuals only.

Professor Derek Ward, Lincolnshire County Council’s Director of Public Health, said: “We’re not seeing any significant increase at this stage in cases in schools […] they’ve been open for a couple weeks now.”

Andy Fox, Assistant Director of 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.”

In terms of overall tests in Lincolnshire, over 110,000 tests were taken in the week up to April 27 with a 0.2% positivity rate. These tests include both rapid lateral flow and PCR methods.