Health Minister Thinking About Reintroducing Contact Tracing in Schoolchildren

Sunday, 7 November 2021 15:15

By Caoimhe Harney

The HSE suspended investigations in primary schools in September.

The health minister says he's now thinking about reversing course to require contact tracing among classmates of schoolchildren who've contracted Covid-19.

The news comes as the Department of Health has reported 3,428 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 today.

As of this morning, 478 patients are being treated in hospital - up 34 since yesterday. 75 are in ICU - an increase of 1 in the last 24 hours.

The HSE suspended investigations in primary schools in September, shortly before the phased reopening of workplaces began.

As under-12s were not eligible to be vaccinated, if they were considered close contacts they were required to self-isolate, prompting complaints from some parents.

Minister Stephen Donnelly denies his decision to scrap tracing at schools has allowed the virus to spread:

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