A consultant in infectious diseases has said keeping community transmission of Covid-19 low will be key to reducing the risk within schools.
Dr Paddy Mallon, from St Vincent's Hospital in Dublin and a Professor of Microbial Diseases at UCD, said "low community transmission means there is less chance of cases getting into schools in the first place". "More importantly, it also frees up our public health response, so rather than dealing with community outbreaks, they are ready to be able to rapidly address any problems that arise within our education system," said Dr Mallon.
His comments come as the phased reopening of Ireland's schools began this morning after more than five months of disruption.