Calls for antigen testing to stop parents having to keep children home

Following confusion among parents about symptoms of Covid-19, the Department of Education has re-issued a list of 11 symptoms on its social channels. File Picture: 

The rising number of children being kept out of school due to Covid-19 could be stemmed using antigen testing, the head of the Irish SME Association has said.

The HSE estimates there could be as many as 14,000 children out of school as they are a contact of a Covid-19 case. The majority are young children in primary or creche settings and so cannot be left home alone causing, what Isme described as, 'massive burdens' for working parents.