New sixth form cases spark school testing drive

Wednesday 04 November 2020

Sixth formers from across four schools have been advised to get tested after a number of covid cases were discovered at JCG and Victoria College.

All affected students are currently isolating along with their households, the Government confirmed last night.

As a result of the increase in cases in the sixth form community, Deputy Medical Officer for Health Dr Ivan Muscat is now advising all Year 12 and 13 students from across four schools sharing subjects – JCG, Victoria College, De La Salle and Beaulieu - to get tested as a “precautionary safety measure.”

Pictured: Dr Ivan Muscat wants sixth form students across four schools to be tested.

A Government statement added: “Students who are not direct contacts are not deemed to be at high risk of infection, and therefore do not need to self-isolate. If a child is a direct contact they will be called by the contact tracing team and will be provided with specific advice about testing and isolation.

“The contact tracing team has advised that, as the students have not been in school since half-term, the year group who are not direct contacts can continue to attend school, although this may, of course, change depending on further information from contact tracing.

“We have been advised that this is just a precautionary measure and there is a low risk, at the moment, but the sixth form students and their teachers and staff in these four schools, are being strongly encouraged to be tested.”

Pictured top: A "small number" of cases identified at JCG and VCJ sparked the four-school sixth form testing drive.