Contact tracing has been removed from the hands of our schools and passed to the Public Health Agency, it has been stated that class mates of our children will not be classed as close contacts even though they will be spending 6 hours a day in close proximity with each other, in poorly ventilated rooms. 

The new rules mean that we as parents will not know if there is a Covid case in our child's classroom, unless the parents choose to share the information. This puts the children and school staff all at risk of contracting covid. This is especially the case within primary schools where social distancing and other mitigations are not as easily implemented. 

The government does not seem to care about the ability of our children passing this virus on to other vulnerable children or adults. The rule of not needing to isolate even if there is a positive case within your household is just ridiculous and is just another avenue for this virus to spread. 

Our Members of the Legislative Assembly need to rethink this strategy, as not only is there a potential for mass spread of Covid, but the mental stress and worry that this new process is going to have on School staff, parents and children is immense. 

Please Stormont reconsider the guidance around our schools and contact tracing.