YOUNG families are being urged to follow Covid-19 guidance after a noticeable spread of cases among school age children and their families.

As reported by the Star last week, Covid infection rates across St Helens have fallen considerably since the start of the year.

In recent months the case rate has fallen from 870 per 100,000 people to 21.6 per 100,000, and the situation at hospitals is much-improved.

However, public health leaders have issued a message of caution, urging residents across St Helens to remain vigilant and act within the guidance after a noticeable spread in the last ten days (March 29 to April 7), predominantly in school-aged children and their families.

Public health director Sue Forster said this resulted in "a number of schools asking year groups to isolate for 10 days to reduce the risk of further spread".

The Star reported prior to the Easter holidays that there had been an outbreak at Legh Vale Primary in Haydock, which resulted in the school closing early ahead of half-term.

Ahead of lockdown easing further on Monday, Ms Forster issued a statement urging families to follow these rules.

• If your child has been asked to isolate, they should not leave the house for any reason until the end of the isolation period unless it is to get a test if they develop symptoms of Covid-19 or to receive urgent medical treatment. This includes a ban on all social activities such as sports or meeting with other children.

• During the school holidays and beyond, continue to use the free lateral flow tests and parents should report the results, positive or negative, to their schools.

• If they develop symptoms or test positive through a symptom-free test they should book in to have a traditional PCR test to confirm if they have Covid-19.

The local authority added that with some outdoor sports underway again across the borough, sports clubs are also being urged to remember the guidance that only one parent is allowed to attend a match of their child and those not participating should keep their distance and wear a mask if possible when attending games.

People should not attend if they have been asked to isolate, or if they or anyone in their household has symptoms of Covid-19, such as a new cough, temperature or loss of taste or smell.

St Helens Star: New health chief Sue Forster

Sue Forster is director of public health for St Helens

In a statement Ms Forster added: “Everyone has worked really hard to help us bring our rates down from the heights of 870 cases per 100,000 people down to 21.6 cases as we are at the moment.

“The key thing parents of school children have to remember is to make sure your child is regularly getting tested if they have the home test kits and that all the family should also test regularly as a number of these cases have come to light after parents have tested positive.

“If anyone in the household is feeling unwell and displaying symptoms everyone has to isolate while that person is tested, which includes not sending children to school.

"Finally, please make sure you keep your school up-to-date with the testing results of your child too.

“Testing is a crucial way of breaking the chains of transmission, keeping our rates low, protecting lives and making sure as more services unlock that we keep Covid-19 rates low.

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"Now that symptom-free testing is open to everyone please make use of the free testing options we have and get tested twice a week to protect our communities.”

If you do not have Covid-19 symptoms, you can walk in, no appointment required, to one of the symptom-free testing stations for a quick, free, supervised test:

• St Mary’s Indoor Market, St Helens Town Centre

• Chester Lane Community Centre, Sutton Manor

• Grange Valley Youth Centre, Haydock

• Torus Housing Office, Newton Road, Parr

• Perth Community Centre, Thatto Heath

at the following times:

• Monday to Friday, 8.30am–6pm

• Saturday and Sunday, 10am–3pm

• Torus Housing Office is open 1pm–6pm, Monday to Friday and 10am–3pm on Saturdays and Sundays

• Perth Community Centre is open 1pm–6pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays

• Grange Valley Youth Centre and Torus Housing Office in Newton Road will be open from 8am on Saturday 10 April.

You can also walk in to collect a Covid-19 home testing kit from any of the above sites, as well as the following sites (subject to availability):

• Fairclough Street Car Park, Earlestown (Monday to Friday, 2.30pm–8pm)

• Haydock Park Racecourse (Monday to Friday, 2.30pm–8pm)

Testing advice

There is no need to make an appointment to collect a home test kit. Do not visit a collection site outside of opening hours, as they could be used to test people with coronavirus symptoms outside of these times. If you are 18 or over, you can collect two packs of home test kits; each pack contains seven tests.

You can find out more about testing at www.sthelens.gov.uk/letsgettested including opening hours and how to register for traditional PCR tests too. You can also order home testing kits if you cannot access them from one of our sites via https://www.gov.uk/order-coronavirus-rapid-lateral-flow-tests