Covid numbers are falling among schoolchildren but one Cheshire East school had 14 teachers off on one day, councillors were told.
Mark Bayley, head of service for education infrastructure, said the real hotspots for schools last week was in Congleton, parts of Macclesfield and in Wilmslow.
Cllr David Edwardes (Macclesfield Tytherington, Ind) told the children and families committee on Monday: “Tytherington High (Macclesfield) today has got 14 teachers down with Covid and they’re seriously considering sending some of the children home this week.”
Mr Bayley said in terms of the data, the news is good for schoolchildren.
“Across the whole of Cheshire East, for all age groups, the rate per 100,000 was at 926, which has seen that steady fall,” he said.
He said the nought to three age group, at the end of last week, was down to 329 per 100,000, compared to 620 the previous seven days; the four to 11 is currently 1,580, down from 2,813 on the previous seven days and the 12 to 16 age group is at 1,880 compared to 2,108 over the previous seven days.
“Overall, the nought to 19 age group represents 32% of all positive cases in Cheshire East across all age groups,” said Mr Bayley.
He said schools were still facing challenges with staffing levels.
“Last week, we had just over 200 primary staff who were off with Covid and 92 secondary, so the feedback from our schools overall is that, while the trend is good, there are still significant challenges in the ability to maintain the level of education that we want,” said Mr Bayley.
He said those hotspot areas of Macclesfield, Wilmslow and Congleton did relate to specific schools.
With regard to school attendance, Mr Bayley added: “As of Thursday last week, the primary attendance rate was at 95% from those returns, which is two percentage points above the national figure and at secondary was 88% which was one percentage point above the national.”
He said the rollout of the second vaccinations was continuing in secondary schools and the latest data shows that 65% of young people in Cheshire East have had that first jab and 21% of have their second.
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