The latest data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), reveals 12.9 per cent of primary school teachers tested positive for coronavirus in the autumn 2021 term, rising to 19.8 per cent in the spring 2022 term (up to 6 April).
In comparison, 12.4 per cent of classroom teachers in secondary schools had a positive test in the spring.
Of all primary school staff, teaching assistants were most likely to test positive for the virus in the spring.
The ONS warns however that there is likely to be an underestimate in the recorded number of infections between the two terms due to changes to the testing guidance in the second half of the spring 2022 term.
According to the statistics, which link the School Workforce Census to the NHS Track and Trace data and the National Immunisation Management Service, there was a larger regional variation in the proportion of staff with a positive coronavirus test than in the autumn. School staff in London were least likely to become infected with the virus, while those in the south-west were more likely to catch Covid – matching similar regional trends seen among school pupils.
Sage expert calls for better ventilation in schools
Sage expert, Susan Michie – a professor of health psychology at University College London – has called for the Government to invest in better ventilation and air filtration systems in schools.
Michie, who accused the Government of ‘shutting its eyes and letting Covid rip’ while the NHS is on its knees, has warned that the number of people with long Covid will ‘increase significantly beyond the current 2 million’, disrupting the country and putting some sector in ‘danger of grinding to a standstill in the autumn’.
Her comments came as the latest data on Covid infections across the general population show an estimated 2.71 million people in the UK had the virus in the last week of June – an 18 per cent rise on the week before. It also shows that Covid hospitalisations are rising too as the latest coronavirus wave hits the country. The fifth wave is thought to be driven by the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variants.
