Principals want public health team to support schools after Cork case

Scoil Bhríde, Eglantine on the Douglas Road. 

Principals have called on the HSE to establish a dedicated public health team to support schools when hit by cases of Covid-19.

The Irish Primary Principals Network (IPPN) has called for a seven-day, out-of-hours public health service specifically for schools.

The call comes as the first case of Covid-19 was detected at a primary school in Cork over the weekend.

The case of Covid-19 was confirmed at Scoil Bhríde Eglantine primary school on the southside of Cork City on Sunday.

In the letter, school principal Eoin Kennedy confirmed the case was among the “school community”, that he was liaising with public health officials, and had contacted “relevant families”.

The Irish Examiner understands the case relates to one pupil and has impacted on one class out of 550 pupils attending the all-girls primary school.

Meanwhile, public health chiefs have urged people to  plan ahead for a Covid-19 Christmas and Halloween by "choosing their friends wisely".

Speaking at the latest Department of Health briefing, health experts also warned that people in Dublin and Limerick need to improve their social distancing to help avoid a further spike in cases.

The next seven days are vital, the country was told, with numbers continuing to increase, bringing the prospect of a further tightening of restrictions.

However, officials stopped short of saying that the country, or parts of the country, face a new lockdown.

There were no new deaths reported to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, but a further 102 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed.

Dr Glynn said the country’s 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 of the population is now 35, with most cases over the past two weeks (791) occurring in Dublin.