NEW Covid cases in the Winchester district continues to rise steadily.

Perins in Alresford is the first secondary school to be closed in the Winchester district due to Covid, after Four Marks primary also near Alresford.

The county council website revealed Perins, which has around 1,150 pupils, has closed today.

Fifty members of staff and 750 pupils were absent, mostly due to being told to self-isolate, including all of Year 10.

Pupils will be expected to carry on studying through remote learning.

Headteacher Steve Jones wrote to parents today saying he had taken the decision to close the school and a have a 14-day 'circuit break'.

He said: "At the weekend we had a significant number of new cases and this pattern has resumed/accelerated throughout this week and we are now in a position where we have positive cases in all year groups. Most concerning is that we are seeing new positive cases from students not previously identified as ‘contacts’ (therefore not at home isolating and in the school setting)."

Its catchment area includes the Itchen valley, up to the southern fringe of Basingstoke, across to Four Marks and Ropley and down to Kilmeston.

See full text of letter at the bottom of this story.

Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus cases in the Winchester district increased by 19 from 1,492 to 1,511, an infection rate of 1,210.2 per 100,000 since the start of the pandemic.

The latest figure for Covid patients at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital is 57 on Monday, down on 63 last Wednesday. Some 43 Covid patients are at the North Hampshire Hospital in Basingstoke.

Data shows that the infection rate in the Winchester district in the seven days to November 14 is 260 cases or 208.2 in every 100,000 people. That compares to 171 people in the previous seven day,or a rate of 137.0. It is fifth highest in Hampshire after Portsmouth, Havant, Southampton and Gosport.

‘Winchester district’ comprises more than the city and is the city council area which stretches from Micheldever in the north to Southwick in the south, from Sparsholt in the west to Bramdean in the east.

Another four people are reported to have died of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours across the Hampshire County Council area, according to Government figures released this evening.

The death toll in Hampshire has risen from 815 to 819. Some 207 new cases have been reported in the HCC area, up from 14,944 to 15,151 since the start of the pandemic in March.

Figures published by NHS England show that over the last 24 hours five people have died in the area covered by the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust which includes the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester, three in the Portsmouth area and none in Southampton.

So far, 223 people have died with Covid at University Hospital Southampton. At Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust the toll now stands at 265, and at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which includes the RHCH in Winchester, there have been 193 recorded deaths. Since the start of the pandemic, there have been a total of 702 deaths across Hampshire.

Comparison of the number of new cases has proved impossible in recent days after a change in the way the statistics are gathered. Public Health England says it has updated the way it records the location of people who have been tested for Covid-19 meaning counts of cases and deaths have been altered. And often the numbers released by the NHS do not match the daily numbers issued by Public Health England and local government.

The number of reported deaths in the Winchester district has stayed at 90 today. Other areas: Portsmouth: 92, down one; Southampton: 132, up one, and Hampshire 819 (including Winchester), up four.

The numbers of Covid sufferers being admitted to hospital has not been updated today. There were 130 on Sunday up from 97 on Friday, in hospitals across the south-east region. Today there are 1,071 patients in south-east hospitals, up from 1,041 on Sunday. Eighty-eight are on ventilators, up five on Sunday.

The latest figure for Covid patients at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital is 57 on Monday down on 63 last Wednesday. Some 43 Covid patients are at the North Hampshire Hospital in Basingstoke.

The letter sent today to Perins School parents from headteacher Steve Jones:

"Dear Parents and Carers,

"You will be aware that I have spent the past few weeks in regular contact with Public Health England, the DfE and the local authority with regards to the situation at Perins.

"At the weekend we had a significant number of new cases and this pattern has resumed/accelerated throughout this week and we are now in a position where we have positive cases in all year groups. Most concerning is that we are seeing new positive cases from students not previously identified as ‘contacts’ (therefore not at home isolating and in the school setting).

"I am very aware that for many of our students remaining in school, there is a heightened anxiety as they see the majority of their peers isolating and hear of the increasing number of positive cases. The health and safety of our students, the risk of spread to their families and the well-being of all members of the Perins community has been our main concern during this period.

"In addition, the learning experiences for those students in school as well as those at home has been negatively affected where classes are split between home and school. The classes using live lessons from home together have had a greater consistency and I thank parents for the positive feedback on this method of learning. In addition, we have, for the past week been seeing approximately 50 members of staff absent on a daily basis and this also has a major impact on learning and the school experience.

"This morning I spoke once again with Public Health England and expressed my concerns in that there appears to be no end point in sight with the potential risk of students returning being asked to isolate again through future ‘contacts’.

"As a result Public Health England has reviewed our situation and agreed that the best response to the current situation is a 14 day ‘circuit break’. This coincidentally coincides with national lockdown dates which will ensure that all students isolate as required (those under specific isolation requirements as well as those under national lockdown requirements).

"Therefore, regretfully, I will be closing all five year bubbles (years 7-11) within the school at the end of the day with a return at 8.30 on 3rd December. Please note that under our phases of closure I have used the phrase ‘close all five year bubbles’ rather than whole school closure as this means that all year groups will receive live Microsoft Teams lessons in their usual timetabled slots (whereas national school closures will mean a  new timetable is put in place with limited lessons due to staff requiring to look after their own families alongside). More details of this will be sent later today from Mr Papanicolaou. Year 11 mock exams will now take place the week beginning 7th December and it is likely that we will adjust the exam timetable (as it falls in a different week of our fortnightly cycle than we originally planned).

"Please note, it is absolutely vital that we maintain our records so if any student or staff member is tested positive for covid-19, please do inform us at the earliest opportunity. The contact email set up for this purpose is:

testandtrace@perins.hants.sch.uk".

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