If your child is identified as a close contact of a case of Covid-19 at school, you will receive information from the school on who needs to isolate and for how long. A summary of the isolation advice, depending on the particular situation, is contained in the table below.

A child in your home ​has tested positive for COVID-19

  • The whole household and other close contacts are required to isolate for 10 days and get a PCR test.

A child in your home is a contact of a case of COVID-19 at school

but you have NOT received an additional letter from the school advising that school/nursery aged siblings need to isolate.

  • The child who is a contact needs to isolate for 10 days and get a PCR test.
  • Parents and other household members DO NOT need to isolate while the child (who is the contact) is awaiting the PCR result.
  • If the child (who is the contact) receives a positive PCR result, then the whole household needs to isolate and get a PCR test.

A child in your home is a contact of a case of COVID-19 at school

and you HAVE received an additional letter advising that school/nursery aged siblings need to isolate.

This additional control measure is applied by Health Protection and Education in situations where an outbreak in a school or nursery setting appears to be developing rapidly. The additional letter sets out exactly who needs to isolate and for how long.

  • The child who is a contact of the case needs to isolate for 10 days and get a PCR test.
  • This child’s siblings need to isolate until the child (who is the contact) gets a negative PCR test result (or for the full 10 days isolation period ​if the child who is the contact cannot be tested for some reason.)
  • Parents and other adults in the household DO NOT need to isolate while the child who is the contact is awaiting the PCR result.
  • If the child (who is the contact) receives a positive PCR result, then the whole household needs to isolate and get a PCR test.

Any member of the household develops COVID-19 symptoms

  • The whole household should isolate immediately. Those who are symptomatic should get a PCR test.