A HIGH school in Herefordshire says it is continuing with tougher Covid rules after a rise in positive cases.

John Masefield High School in Ledbury said there had been a rise in coronavirus cases before half-term, which began on October 25 – with students still off after catching Covid.

As a result of the rise, which headteacher Andrew Evans said came after fortunately low cases since pupils returned in September, new rules were put in place.

And despite a falling number of positive PCR tests, those processed by a laboratory, those rules would continue.

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In a letter to parents on Tuesday (November 9), he said there were 13 current cases at John Masefield which was lower than other local schools

Mr Evans said that the school, in Mabel's Furlong with around 900 pupils, needed to remain cautious, and it was closely monitoring cases on a daily basis.

Students would continue to be "encouraged" to wear face masks indoors, and ventilation would be "maximised".

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The "no physical contact rule" would continue, along with increasing cleaning of touch points and hand sanitising on entering and leaving a classroom.

Parents and carers were also asked to ensure that students with symptoms self-isolated and took a PCR test.

Mr Evans said it was also vital that students continued with twice-weekly lateral flow testing at home – the quick tests with the aim of finding asymptomatic cases.