Covid: Teachers and school workers 'should have priority for tests'

Everyone working in schools in Wales should be prioritised for coronavirus testing, education unions have said.

They said staff planning proved difficult without the "ongoing threat" of absences caused because employees cannot find out if they have Covid-19.

The UK's testing infrastructure has come under pressure in recent weeks with people unable to access tests or directed long distances away.

The Welsh Government said every school was being provided testing kits.

Dozens of schools across Wales have sent home children after cases of Covid-19. Last week, Public Health Wales said at least 50 schools were affected.

While the Welsh NHS runs its own coronavirus testing, more tests are run through the UK's Lighthouse laboratory scheme.

Last week, the head of NHS Test and Trace in England, Dido Harding, said demand had "significantly" outstripped capacity.

The GMB, teachers' unions NEU, UCAC and NASUWT, head teachers' unions NAHT and ASCL, Unison and Unite raised their concerns in a joint letter.

"We strongly urge Welsh Government to include the whole school workforce as a priority group for tests," the letter to the First Minister Mark Drakeford said.

"Keeping schools open and properly staffed is a key priority for the sake of all school age children across Wales and for broader economic factors.

"The sooner staff who need a test are able to either definitively self-isolate where they have a positive result or return to work if they have a negative result and are well enough to do so, the better for pupils and staff at those affected schools.

"Workforce planning in order to provide safe school settings is proving difficult already without the ongoing threat of increasing members of staff unable to attend work because they can't access a Covid-19 test."

The UK government has planned to prioritise tests for certain groups in England, with teachers among them.

A Welsh Government spokesman said: "Every school in Wales is being provided with testing kits. The rapid deployment of testing by NHS Wales will also support individual schools, where needed.

"It's also important to note that only school staff with symptoms of the coronavirus need to take a test and self-isolate.

"We recommend testing for those with a continuous cough, fever, or loss of or change in the sense of taste or smell.

"Anyone who displays these symptoms should self-isolate and arrange to get a free test through the online booking portal or by ringing 119."