Dear Parents or Guardians,
There is a lot of talk at present about COVID-19 (also known as Coronavirus). Please read this letter issued today by the Department of Education’s Chief Medical Officer to parents of school pupils.
We are in touch with the HSE and following their advice. We will be continuing to monitor the situation and our advice/instructions may change as the situation develops.
The advice given at present is as follows:
If, in the past 14 days, a parent, guardian or child has travelled to Ireland from any of the identified affected countries/regions e.g. Italy, Tenerife and they remain symptom free , they should
Visit the HSE website for advice and remain vigilant and alert to possible symptoms.
https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/coronavirus/coronavirus.html
If, in the past 14 days, a parent, guardian or child has been
- in contact with a person who has Novel Coronavirus, or
- attended a hospital/healthcare facility where patients with novel Coronavirus are being treated but they feel well and do not have any symptoms of respiratory disease, they need to:
Contact HSELive on 1850 24 1850
If in the past 14 days, a parent, guardian or child has:
- travelled to Ireland from any of the identified areas above, or
- been in contact with a person who has novel Coronavirus, or
- attended a hospital/healthcare facility where patients with novel Coronavirus are being treated
- AND they feel unwell, especially with respiratory symptoms (e.g. cough, high temperature, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing), then they should:
isolate themselves (i.e. stay separate from other people) and phone their GP immediately – giving their GP their travel history and symptoms. Your GP will advise you of the next steps over the phone.
We ask that you inform the school in all of the incidences above as we have several children in our school with compromised auto immune systems and other children with relatives at home who need to be aware of illnesses that may be present in the school community in order to protect their health.
The HSE also advises that the most important action we can take to protect ourselves from Covid-19 is regular hand-washing and good respiratory hygiene. Parents should reinforce this key message at home.
I wish to reassure parents that everything will be done in accordance to the protocols set down by the HSE.
Yours sincerely,
Denis Courtney.
Get those jerseys and flags out again because Sam is coming to our school tomorrow Tuesday. Everyone can wear their favourite jersey to school over their jumper.
