IPPN

Published: 11 November 2021

Recently the Leadership Support Team has received queries from members seeking clarification on when a household member is a confirmed Covid 19 case and the attendance of staff at school.

There have been important changes to the HSE guidance on who must restrict their movements due to being a close contact of someone with Covid-19.  If you are identified as a close contact of someone with Covid-19, depending on your circumstances, you may or may not be required to restrict your movements if you do not have any symptoms of Covid-19. Further detail can be found on the HSE website. Please be aware that this guidance may be updated over time. Therefore, it is important that the advice of the HSE/HSE contact tracer is sought in this regard.

When contacted by the HSE as a close contact, your vaccination status will be determined. If you are fully vaccinated and do not have any symptoms of Covid-19, you may be informed that it is not necessary to restrict your movements and will not be referred for testing. In this case, close contacts are able to attend school. If you are instructed by the HSE to restrict your movements as for example, because of not being vaccinated or the close contact involving a variant of concern, this will be recorded on the OLCS as Covid-19: Restricted Movement. A substitute can be appointed to work in the school and you will be available to work remotely. You will be offered testing as soon as possible after being identified and then at day 10. Once you are asymptomatic and have received a ‘not detected’ test result from day 10 test, you can stop restricting movements and return to school.

Teachers who are required to restrict their movements should submit the declaration at Appendix D of Circular 0042/2021 to their employer with their supporting evidence.
Covid-19: Restricted Movement should not be recorded on the OLCS without supporting medical or HSE documentation. Please also refer to Table 5 in DE Circular 0042/2021.