A primary school in Co Clare has closed due to Covid-19, only a few days after schools re-opened following a six-month lockdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Parents of pupils attending the school, which is located close to the Limerick border, received a text message from the school authority informing them of the temporary closure, as a number of staff members had been identified as close contacts of a confirmed case of coronavirus.
The school, which has over 100 pupils on its roll book, had not issued any statement via its social media accounts Wednesday night and it could not be reached for comment.
A local TD confirmed they had spoken to a local parent who received the text message.
The message, seen by this reporter, reads: “Dear Parent, we have been advised by the HSE that a number of staff members have been identified as close contacts of a case of Covid 19. On that basis they have to be excluded from school. It is not possible for the school to remain open without any permanent member of staff so unfortunately the school will have to close immediately.”
The message advises the reader, “we hope to re-open on Wednesday 9th Sept, unless you are advised otherwise”.
“Currently this has no implications for students and no pupil has been identified as a close contact to date. We regret the closure of the school but we are obliged to follow the HSE guidelines,” the message continued.
A former teacher at the school said: “It is very ably run by the principal and staff and I have full confidence they have done the right thing in accordance with public health guidelines.”
“This is unfortunate for the teachers and the pupils, but I would say this will become a common feature in schools across the country as we live with Covid-19, and I would expect there would be a rolling series of class closures and school closure around the country,” they added.
In Dublin, two primary schools sent some pupils home in the last couple of days after a child in each school tested positive for the virus.