Dear Parents,

There is some confusion about why classes are sent home when there has been a positive test result, rather than just keeping the ill child at home. I hope this might help to explain:

- If somebody has Covid, they can pass it to others before they know they are ill.

- A person with Covid may be infectious for 48 hours before they show symptoms. So they can be happily playing with friends, feeling completely fine, and completely unaware that they are spreading the virus.

- It may take 14 days for somebody to show symptoms after being with an infected person.

- Self-isolation is designed to stop people spreading it further by limiting the number of people they see.

So if somebody in your child's class has a test result which shows they have Covid, anyone in that bubble needs to self-isolate in case they have caught it off the child that has it. Your child is isolating because he/she may have caught the virus but might not be showing symptoms yet. It might take 14 days for them to feel ill. During those 14 days, they might be infectious to other people before they know that they are ill.

I hope that helps to explain the self-isolating bubbles.

Best wishes,

Mrs Seymour