As parents will be aware, Boris Johnson announced his intention today to keep schools open for now as we move into the Delay phase of the Government’s action plan. At Birches, we have been working with local schools to consider plans for the possibility of any future closures and are organised and ready to support learning should this become a necessity.
As part of the new instructions received I wish to share the following information with parents, which extends to both adults and children within the school. Please do play your part by adhering to this to safeguard as many as possible. We appreciate that children are not deemed high risk, however we do know that they visit elderly family members and can contribute to putting others in potential harm.
Symptoms
The most common symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are recent onset of:
- new continuous cough and/or
- high temperature
Key messages
- if you have symptoms of coronavirus infection (COVID-19), however mild, stay at home and do not leave your house for 7 days from when your symptoms started, this action will help protect others in your community whilst you are infectious.
- plan ahead and ask others for help to ensure that you can successfully stay at home.
- ask your employer, friends and family to help you to get the things you need to stay at home.
- stay at least 2 metres (about 3 steps) away from other people in your home whenever possible.
- sleep alone, if that is possible.
- wash your hands regularly for 20 seconds, each time using soap and water.
- stay away from vulnerable individuals such as the elderly and those with underlying health conditions as much as possible.
- you do not need to call NHS111 to go into self-isolation. If your symptoms worsen during home isolation or are no better after 7 days contact NHS 111 online. If you have no internet access, you should call NHS 111. For a medical emergency dial 999.
Unless any of the symptoms above apply, we would expect children to be in school as normal until further instruction to the contrary is received.
Thank you