Scarborough Coronavirus: Borough's infection rate rises as Graham School closes and community group claims children not isolating

The borough’s seven day infection rate per 100,000 people now stands at 121, up from 94 yesterday and by almost 100 on this time last week.

One of the town’s secondary schools, Graham School, which has approximately 1,000 pupils has closed for 10 days due to an outbreak of cases.

In a message on its website the school stated: “As you will be aware, some members of the school community have recently tested positive for Covid-19 Because of this, a number of staff and students in the school have been asked to isolate having been identified as close contacts of positive cases.

“Unfortunately, since our last communication, more positive cases have been reported to the school.

“So that we can prioritise both the quality of education as well as the health and well-being of our staff and students, Hope Learning Trust has made the difficult decision to close the school temporarily.

“This decision is supported by North Yorkshire County Council and Public Health England.”

The school will be closed until July 6 to allow deep cleaning to take place and make sure everyone who has tested positive and their close contacts have had a full 10 days of isolation.

Lessons will still be delivered to students on Google Classroom though Year 10 exams have had to be rescheduled along with a Year 7 parents’ evening.

Data from Public Health England shows that the majority of cases are being recorded in 10 to 14 year olds, which has a case rate of 444.

Scarborough’s Gallows Close Centre, a community group for young people, announced last week it was also closing for 10 days due to children who should be isolating mixing with those using its services.

A statement on the group’s Facebook page said: “As some of you may know some of our local schools are sending pupils home to isolate for 10 days, unfortunately this is not happening out of school and the children are playing in the park or mixing with other children putting others at risk including staff.

“As a small team and community centre under no circumstances is this acceptable nor will we allow staff to be put at risk through the negligence of others.

“The decision has been made to cancel classes for 10 days until hopefully things die down again.”