Hertfordshire health supremo Jim McManus has urged parents to continue with twice weekly lateral flow testing to halt the spread of Covid into schools – as a Hitchin secondary school remains partially closed.

The latest government data shows the number of cases of Covid is steadily rising across the county including Hitchin – with around 66 in every 100,000 people testing positive.

The Priory School on Bedford Road in Hitchin remains partially closed today, [Tuesday, June 29] due to a large number of staff and pupils having to self isolate - leading to many youngsters being forced to switch back to remote learning.

However, Hertfordshire's director of public health Jim McManus stresses that infections are not occurring within school – but in the wider community.

The health boss urged parents to continue to take regular lateral flow tests at home – which identify household members who may have the virus, but no symptoms.

He stressed early self-isolation, where cases are found, would ultimately mean fewer children having to stay away from school.

"I think the message to parents remains please continue with regular testing," he said.

"And if someone tests positive on a lateral flow device, you have to self-isolate, you have to get a PCR test.

"That is the law. And the earlier you do that, the fewer people – and the fewer school children – will have to self-isolate."

Mr McManus added that he hoped all Hertfordshire schools would be fully open in September.

He stressed that tracking, contact tracing and network analysis of the larger outbreaks had shown that transmission of the virus was occurring away from schools.

He underlined that case rates could be kept low by vaccination, regular testing and socialising carefully, in ventilated premises .

"Infections are not happening in schools, " he said.

"Infections are happening by socialising of people generally outside schools that infect households that the kids are part of and then take it in to school.

"If we want our schools open – which I really hope we do – we want fewer kids and fewer households infected.

"So keep Covid low, try and suppress it – get your vaccine, get tested and just socialise carefully in ventilated premises and we can keep schools open.

"We have still got a month to go before the end of the school year – but we want to come back in September with every school fully open."

No decision has yet been made on whether to extend the vaccination programme to children.

At the briefing Mr McManus said that 'on the whole' children did not become seriously ill from the virus.

So he suggested that any decision to vaccinate children would be 'to improve their life chances' in keeping schools open or to enhance population immunity.

And he said he would hope that the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) – which advises the government – would make education part of their consideration.

"There are a lot of teachers and parents in Hertfordshire who would like that for their kids' chances," he said.