Health bosses in Hertfordshire believe schools reopening in September will not cause a significant coronavirus outbreak.

Schools will be able to open their doors again to pupils with less measures next month under updated guidance from the Department for Education.

This includes face coverings no longer being advised for staff or pupils in school as well as the system of bubbles - where children only mix within a fixed year or class group - also ending.

During a press briefing on Tuesday morning, Geraldine Bruce, Head of Health Protection at Hertfordshire County Council, said she was “not expecting a significant outbreak in communities when schools reopen”.

She said: “Generally transmission is very low within schools and doesn’t generally translate to come out into the community, its often the other way round, so high community transmission actually goes into schools.”

Hertfordshire Director of Public Health Jim McManus agreed, adding that the amount of people vaccinated should help in putting “a good wall” around schools.

However, he added the Delta variant of the virus - which is now dominant in the UK - is “unpredictable”, saying it is “far more infectious than flu”.

When schools return in September they will no longer be expected to undertake contact tracing and close contacts will now be identified through NHS Test and Trace.

Read more about the guidance here 

DfE guidance also states that secondary school pupils in England should be tested twice on site on their return in the autumn term, with lateral flow device tests carried out between three and five days apart.

It adds that secondary schools and colleges can “stagger” the return of pupils across the first week to manage the Covid-19 testing process.

With the DfE guidance having been updated, Tania Rawle, head of school standards and accountability, said schools will be supported through outbreak management.

This outlines what schools would do should someone test positive for Covid-19.

The threshold for the autumn term for which a school should consider implementing additional measures and contacting Hertfordshire County Council for support is when five children, pupils, students or staff (or 10 per cent) who are likely to have mixed closely test positive for Covid-19 within a 10-day period.

Mrs Rawle added: “We continue to intend to support schools within the guidance and prioritise particularly schools where there may be greater vulnerability.”