This article is more than 6 months old

This article is more than 6 months old

At least a dozen schools across the UK have put students and staff into self-isolation after returning home from coronavirus-hit northern Italy, as plans were announced to test flu patients in an attempt to spot whether the highly contagious condition is spreading.

Pupils from County Antrim in Northern Ireland, Pembrokeshire in Wales, Guernsey in the Channel Islands and Cheshire, Yorkshire, Berkshire, Teesside and Cornwall in England were sent home on Tuesday to quarantine themselves for 14 days despite not showing any signs of infection, following advice from the UK chief medical officers.

Anyone who in the last two weeks has come back from Iran, specific lockdown areas in northern Italy, certain parts of South Korea and Hubei province in China is being asked to stay indoors, call NHS111 and avoid contact with other people, even if they do not have symptoms.

Thousands of people cannot enter or leave 11 towns in the Lombardy and Veneto regions of Italy for the next two weeks without special permission. Many Britons, including school parties, visited the region on ski holidays over half-term.

Despite advice from Public Health England (PHE) and the Department for Education that schools should stay open, two schools closed completely to all pupils for deep-cleaning after half-term ski trips to Italy.

Trinity Catholic college in Middlesbrough said it would reopen on 3 March, while Cransley school in Northwich, Cheshire, is shut until 2 March after the headteacher said a number of pupils were showing “flu-like symptoms”.

Meanwhile, Public Health England (PHE) has announced flu patients are to be assessed for coronavirus in an effort to spot whether it is spreading.

Standard flu test samples from patients in some hospitals in England will also be assessed for the virus.

So far diagnostic tests have only been conducted on patients who are believed to be infected, but health officials plan to roll out the assessment more widely.

It is not believed that coronavirus is circulating in England, but experts hope to spot any spread and put preventive measures in place.

PHE has put the new system in place in eight NHS hospitals across the country. About 100 primary care sites, such as GP surgeries, will also participate in the scheme so milder cases can be detected.

England’s chief medical officer, Prof Chris Whitty, said on Tuesday that there were a number of contingency plans if the virus spread.

Britons returning from coronavirus-hit Italy told to self-isolate Read more

Speaking at the Department of Health and Social Care in central London, Whitty said schools could be shut, whole families quarantined and transport reduced if coronavirus became a global pandemic.

About 50 pupils and staff from a school in Co Antrim were sent home for 14 days’ self-quarantine after returning from an Italian ski holiday.

The group, from Cambridge House grammar school in Ballymena, were in the Lombardy region but did not visit nine towns affected by the infection and are showing no symptoms. They travelled through Milan airport, the school’s principal, Elma Lutton, said.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Brine Leas School, Sixth Form building, which is closed after teachers and pupils self-quarantined over coronavirus fears after returning from a ski trip in Northern Italy, February 25, 2020 in Nantwich. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Brine Leas academy in Nantwich, Cheshire, has also been affected by travel to Italy. The school said on Twitter it would remain open but that the sixth-form college would close due to staff shortages.

Sandbach high school, also in Cheshire, said students and staff who had visited Aprica, in Lombardy, were to stay indoors and self-isolate, even though no one was showing any symptoms.

Guernsey grammar school sent home students who had been on a trip to Piedmont in northern Italy, after one began “showing the relevant symptoms”, local authorities have said.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Sandbach High School which has sent home staff and pupils who were on a school ski trip to coronavirus hit Northern Italy. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Other schools which sent home pupils and staff who had been to northern Italy included Salendine Nook high school in West Yorkshire, Newquay Tretherras school in Cornwall and Haverfordwest high school in Pembrokeshire.