'Fear, confusion and anxiety': Parents at Cork school seek more information on coronavirus case 

Scoil Bhríde, Eglantine on the Douglas Road. Google Image.

Parents of children at Cork’s first primary school to confirm a Covid-19 case are demanding they be given more information.

Parents claim that other than a short letter telling them the case exists in the Scoil Bhríde Eglantine, near Douglas, they have been told little or nothing else.

A further 307 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in Ireland today, with the expectation of further outbreaks in school communities in the days ahead.

Cork City Fine Gael councillor Deirdre Forde said there needs to be a better mechanism in place for principals to reassure parents.

Under the current guidelines, schools are severely restricted in what information they can provide concerning an outbreak or a confirmed case. 

Public health officials decide on the specific actions the school should take if there is a case of Covid-19. 

However, parents have spoken of the lack of communication this has given rise to.

“It is not a situation where a principal can just call everybody in for a chat,” said Ms Forde. “They also have to follow GDPR and not identify people.

But I do think if there are concerns, there should be some mechanism that the principal should be able to elaborate and reassure parents.

An email was sent to parents at Scoil Bhríde Eglantine on Sunday with a letter attached to it by the school’s principal, Eoin Kennedy.

As the Irish Examiner revealed this week, the letter said he was “engaging” with the local public health team and had contacted “all relevant families”.

Mr Kennedy was unavailable for comment.

The Irish Examiner has been told parents are demanding to know if the case just involves one pupil.

“We have had little or no dialogue with the school about this,” a parent, who asked not to be named, told the Irish Examiner. “That leads to fear, confusion and anxiety. Just issuing a bland, say-little letter is not the way to handle a situation like this.”

Ms Forde said: “I think there is a general concern about this case, as we are all in uncharted territory.

“I have heard a lot of speculation and I am loath to fan the flames of speculation myself. But there is a natural concern there and that is to be expected.

“It is natural that people might be deeply concerned.”

Meanwhile, the latest Covid-19 figure have pushed the number of confirmed cases in Ireland beyond the 30,000 mark.

There has now been a total of 1,778 Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland, while there have been 30,080 confirmed cases. Of the 307 cases yesterday, 182 are in Dublin, 25 are in Kildare, and 19 are in Limerick.