Welsh Government highlights steps to reduce Covid risk when schools reopen

The Welsh Government has released some information on how parents, guardians and learners in Wales can help keep COVID-19 risk down when schools re-open for the autumn term.

Steps include getting the vaccine if it’s offered to you; maintaining regular handwashing; and staying home and booking a PCR test if you have Covid symptoms.

Staff in primary schools - and staff and learners in secondary schools and colleges - without symptoms should take two lateral flow tests (LFTs), three days apart during the week leading up to their first day back. If the test is positive they should self-isolate, and book a PCR test.

Going into the new term, staff in primary schools and staff and learners in secondary schools and colleges not showing symptoms should continue to take regular rapid lateral flow tests twice a week, and report the results online.

Learners Years 7 and above should continue to wear face coverings on school and college transport.

Staff and learners should use any LFTs they have in their household first, or order tests online for free, or collect them from community collection points or pharmacies. Schools will provide LFTs during term time.

Jeremy Miles, the Minister for Education and Welsh Language, said: "Earlier in the summer, I wanted to ensure that at the start of the 2021/22 school year, we could keep learners and staff safe, and lessen the possible disruptions posed by COVID-19.

"By now, all of our workforce will either have received or been offered a vaccine. We have also offered the vaccine to all of Wales 16 and 17 year olds, and will offer it to clinically vulnerable 12 to 15 year olds.

"This means the risks posed by COVID-19 are much lower – but we still need people to follow some rules, to make sure we don’t risk the level of disruption of day-to-day learning that we saw during the pandemic."