Coronavirus in Scotland: Secondary school pupils to return after Easter break

The First Minister announced the plans for secondary school pupils at her lunchtime briefing on Tuesday.
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Ms Sturgeon confirmed that secondary school pupils will be returning to school after the Easter holidays.

She said: “Virtually all pupils will return to school full time.

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”The one exception to this is children who are on the shielding list.”

Picture: John DevlinPicture: John Devlin
Picture: John Devlin
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It is recommended that these children stay at home until April 26.

She added: "I know, however, that it will also be a source of concern for some people.

“And so I want to give reassurance that safety will be paramount.

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"The return to school will involve the removal, where necessary, of strict 2 metre physical distancing between pupils in secondary schools - however we are asking schools to consider how they can strengthen other mitigations.

"For example, we have committed almost £400m of education recovery funding - and I know that many councils have been using some of this funding to monitor and improve ventilation in schools.

"In addition, twice-weekly lateral flow testing is available for all school staff in primary, secondary and special schools – and for secondary school pupils.

"I would encourage as many staff and pupils as possible to use the tests.

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"Through these measures and others, the Scottish Government, schools and local authorities are trying to ensure that the return is as safe as possible."

There were 259 new cases of coronavirus in Scotland reported in the last 24 hours.

196 people are in hospital and 21 are in intensive care.

There were no further deaths though the First Minister warned that this could be due registration offices being closed on Easter Monday.

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