Covid-19 Guidance wef 1st April 2022
Please note the changes to the guidance for managing COVID-19 in schools, which takes effect from tomorrow, Friday 1 April.
On Tuesday 29 March, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Sajid Javid, set out the next steps for living with COVID-19 in England from Friday 1 April. Free COVID-19 tests will continue to be available for specific groups, including eligible patients and NHS staff, once the universal testing offer ends tomorrow:
The updated guidance advises:
- adults with the symptoms of a respiratory infection, and who have a high temperature or feel unwell, should try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people until they feel well enough to resume normal activities and they no longer have a high temperature
- students who are unwell and have a high temperature should stay at home and avoid contact with other people. Students can return to school when they no longer have a high temperature, and they are well enough to attend
- adults with a positive COVID-19 test result should stay at home and avoid contact with other people for 5 days, which is when they are most infectious. For students in Years 7-13, the advice is 3 days.
The new guidance is based in the fact that the population now has much stronger protection against COVID-19 than at any other point in the pandemic. This means the country can begin to manage the virus like other respiratory infections, thanks to the success of the vaccination programme and access to antivirals, alongside natural immunity and increased scientific and public understanding about how to manage risk.
For schools, from tomorrow, (Friday 1 April), this means regular asymptomatic testing is no longer recommended, and consequently we are no longer able to order test kits. This means that we will not be handing out any test kits to staff or students unless advised by our local health protection team.
