Hartlepool school staff member tested for coronavirus after visit to Italy on school skiing trip

Manor Community Academy and Dyke House Academy went on a joint skiing trip to Italy. Afterwards a member of staff was tested for coronavirus.

Around 50 students, aged 12 to 16, and 11 staff from Manor Community Academy and Dyke House Academy went on a skiing trip to Hermagor in southern Austria.

It is not known which school the staff member works for. Public Health England expect the staff member’s results on Friday, as they are dealing with a backlog of tests for the virus.

Students and staff of the schools popped over the border to the town of Tarvisio in Friuli Venezia Giulia, a region in the north-east of Italy, close to the border with both Austria and Slovenia.

Manor Community Academy and Dyke House Academy were the two Hartlepool schools on a trip to Italy, after which one staff member was treated for coronavirus.

There have been 320 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Italy, with 11 deaths. Cases have occurred in eight Italian regions. However, Friuli Venezia Giulia is not one of them.

Both schools are part of the Northern Education Trust.

A spokesperson for the trust said: “Around 50 students from Years 8 to 11, and 11 members of staff from Northern Education Trust’s Manor Community Academy and Dyke House Academy travelled to Hermagor in Austria, for a ski trip over the half term holiday.

“During the trip, the travellers made a short visit to Tarvisio, which is a three hour drive from the closest town in isolation in Northern Italy.

“Since returning from the trip, one member of staff is absent from work and has been tested for the coronavirus and is awaiting the results. The situation is being monitored daily.

“The academy has consulted Public Health England about what to do and fully understands the concerns that parents and carers may have.

“Public Health England has confirmed that the academy is following the correct procedures, in line with their guidance. Anyone with concerns should contact NHS 111 for further advice.”

The Italian government has introduced extraordinary measures which allow regions to isolate towns in response to the situation.

The UK Foreign Office is advising against all but essential travel to 11 small towns in Lombardy and Veneto, the nearest of which is around 120 miles from Tarvisio.