Schools have remained open to children of key workers. Picture: PA NINE schools in Dorset have confirmed cases of coronavirus since classrooms reopened last week, with students and staff self-isolating as a result. Despite schools being closed to most pupils, they must remain open for children of key workers and vulnerable pupils. Since the start of term on Monday, January 4, nine schools in Dorset Council area have reported cases of Covid-19. Sam Crowe, director of Public Health for Dorset and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Councils confirmed that a number of schools in Dorset have reported single cases of COVID-19. He said: “These schools are working closely with Public Health Dorset, Dorset Council and Public Health England South West to ensure that all necessary measures are being met.
Dorset residents thanked for making huge sacrifices and urged help stop the spread of coronavirus SENIOR council and police figures in Dorset have come to urge residents to ‘keep up the good work’ and ‘help stop the spread’ of coronavirus. Agencies tasked with curbing the spread of coronavirus have written an open letter to everyone across the county thanking them for their efforts and urging them to keep following the restrictions. Local authorities, NHS services, police, fire, utilities and voluntary and community sector organisations, under the banner of the Local Resilience Forum (LRF), are speaking with one voice. They have all acknowledged the ‘huge sacrifices’ residents have made in the last 12 months and how emergency services have had to often adapt to the ever changing rules and circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic.
That grim tally of 20,000 cases was passed at the weekend when it was also revealed the amount of people who had died with Covid in Dorset s hospitals had sadly risen. According to the latest figures, eight deaths were recorded by University Hospitals Dorset on January 6, 7 and 8. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the trust has now recorded 313 Covid-related deaths. Meanwhile, a total of 36 people have died at Dorset County Hospital after recording a positive test since the start of the pandemic, with 35 deaths reported by the Dorset Healthcare Trust. It has also been revealed that the number of people in Dorset’s hospitals battling coronavirus has doubled since New Year’s Eve – and we have still not yet reached the peak.