More schools forced to close due to COVID in Scotland

As reported by the BBC News, a number of schools in Scotland have closed after a rise in COVID cases amongst staff

Students at schools in Dumfries and Galloway, the Highlands, Moray, Orkney and the Western Isles have returned to remote learning this week.

The move comes after a surge in the number of COVID cases in recent weeks. Latest reports suggest one in 14 people in Scotland had the virus in the week ending March 12th.

The Highlands has been the area which is worst hit, with at least six schools and nurseries closed for COVID-related reasons.

The director of education in Dumfries and Galloway, Gillian Brydson warned further closures may be necessary and more schools might return to remote learning.

In a letter to parents, Brydson said: “Please be assured that we would only ask pupils to do this if the situation is unavoidable, because of health and safety concerns due to staff absences, and for as short as possible”.

The council in the City of Edinburgh have also said that their staff are under pressure to provide teaching.

A spokesperson for the council commented: “We have well established processes to ensure teaching can continue in person including various in school mitigations, deploying central staff and sharing staff between and across the learning community.

“Keeping children at school remains our priority but ultimately if these measures are all exhausted remote learning may be considered.”