Parents are reassured to continue sending their kids into a high school after a person tested positive with Covid-19.

Hatch End High School issued a letter to parents yesterday (March 10) confirming that a person at the school has tested positive for coronavirus.

The person was last seen in school last Friday (March 6) and is currently receiving care for the virus.

The school will remain open following advice from Public Health England (PHE).

Head teacher Ms Maguire said in a statement: “We have been working closely with PHE to understand the implications of this for us as a school.

“PHE have conducted a risk assessment and advised us that no staff or pupils need to exclude themselves from school.

“A group of pupils and a small number of staff members have been asked to monitor themselves for symptom, for a period of 14 days (March 20).

“No one in this group has been asked to exclude themselves from school if they are well.

“Others in the school are not identified as having had close contact with this person. Based on current PHE guidelines, your risk contracting Covid-19 from this person is very low and you do not need to take extra precautions.”

One parent, Caren Duhig, said she trusts the advice provided by Public Health England, despite concerns that the virus could affect her weakened immune system.

She has coeliac disease, meaning she has a reduced spleen function that would fight against infections.

She said: “I think for now the best thing to do will be to find a way to boost both my daughters and my own immunity.

“I was shocked when I had the email as I didn’t expect to see that.

“But they say the person was around the school on March 6, and we’ve been around so many people since then, so if there was a risk of her catching it, it would have happened by now anyway.

“I’m following the advice of Public Health England and still taking her into school.

“I was all for closing down the school yesterday, but now I’m thinking about this practically. I’m not doing her any favours keeping her out of school.

“If schools are down, what are the children going to do during this time?”

Despite this the mother said she will be monitoring if the situation and advice from Public Health England changes.

The announcement of the confirmed case comes after an open evening scheduled for this week was cancelled.

A petition calling to close schools for an appropriate amount of time amid the coronavirus outbreak has received over 240,000 signatures and will soon see a response by the government.

However, the Easter Holidays are approaching around April 6, meaning that many children will have two weeks away from school during the outbreak.