Management of a single confirmed case

You might be notified by a parent / carer, a member of staff, NHS test and trace or the local test and trace team that you have a positive case in the school.

Action required by education setting

Please report any positive cases of COVID-19 to the Walsall Public Health On-call team

Telephone: 01922 658065 (8am-8pm 7 days a week) 

Email: walsall.healthprotection@nhs.net (8am-8pm 7 days a week) 

Further action may be required 

Once you are aware of a positive case at your school further action is required to prevent further transmission of COVID-19 in your setting.  The public health on-call team will carry out a rapid risk assessment to confirm who has been in close contact with the person during the period that they were infectious, and ensure they are asked to self-isolate.  

Based on their advice, schools must send home those people who have been in close contact with the person who has tested positive, advising them to self-isolate for 10 days from the day after contact with the individual tested positive.

Close contact means:

• direct close contacts - face to face contact with an infected individual for any length of time, within 1 metre, including being coughed on, a face to face conversation, or unprotected physical contact (skin-to-skin)
• proximity contacts - extended close contact (within 1 to 2 metres for more than 15 minutes) with an infected individual
• travelling in a small vehicle, like a car, with an infected person

Find out more on who might need to self-isolate 

The social distancing measures put in place by educational settings should reduce the number of other direct/close contacts. Read more on how to minimise contact between individuals and social distancing. 

Tracing close contacts in school

The head teacher / early years manager or appropriate member of the leadership team at the educational setting will work with a member of the health protection hub to identify direct and close contacts of the case .This will look over a period of 48 hours prior to the child or staff member becoming ill upto/including their last day at school/educational setting.

If the child is asymptomatic (shows no symptoms) then this will be 48 hours before the date of the COVID test. 

It will assist and expedite the process if the educational establishment could gather as much of the following information to provide to Walsall Health protection hub;

• Where possible create a list of close contacts that need to leave the setting to self-isolate at home for 14 days (The list of close contacts is anyone who has been within 2m of the positive case) 
• Secondary schools should be able to provide a class list(s)  
• Confirm how the case has travelled to school
  • Travelled to school on school transport and if so which one and in which seat
  • Car share
  • Walked alone or with others  
• Confirm the last date the individual was in school
• Confirm the date of the test was taken
• Confirm the date of the positive test result  
• Confirm if they have any siblings and the education setting they attend (These would also be required to self-isolate if in a household or support bubble)
• Confirm the individuals activities and movements within the school (including break and lunch times, staff room areas, break out areas, after school clubs) 
• Confirm that the children / staff who are identified as close contacts were present in the setting on the days that the positive case was in school. If they were absent for health reasons this would need to be reviewed but could still attend school. If they were absent for other personal reasons, they can still attend school.
• Share contact details of the positive case so that contact can be made by the on-call team for further investigations

Action Required by setting

• Contact the Walsall health protection hub with the above information or with as much of the above information as possible.

Advice from the Walsall Health protection hub could include;

• Review assessment of risks to minimise further transmission in the setting

• Sending a letter to parents of close contacts. A model letter can be provided by the health protection hub. The letter will inform parents / carers that their child will need to self-isolate for 10 days since last contact with case. If their child develops symptoms, to contact the school and to get tested.

• Sending a letter to all parents that there is a positive case in school. A model letter can be provided by health protection hub. The letter will inform the school community to remain vigilant; to inform them all was being done to