FIVE schools in Bracknell have been confirmed by the council has having cases of the Indian variant of the coronavirus.

The announcement made on the Bracknell Forest Council (BFC) website on Wednesday, June 2, detailed the "very small number of cases" found in schools in the borough.

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These are the Binfield CE Primary School, The Brakenhale School, Great Hollands Primary School, Sandhurst School, and Whitegrove Primary School.

The council said all five schools took immediate action after being notified and have been working with Public Health England (PHE) to notify all relevant contacts.

As a result of this, PHE has advised for Bracknell schools to be doing additional coronavirus testing, focussing on specific students/student year groups based on their risk assessment.

Pic: Bracknell Forest Council

Pic: Bracknell Forest Council

A spokesman for the BFC said: "There is currently no evidence to suggest that this variant causes more serious illness than other variants.

"However, this variant is at least as transmissible as the variant first identified in Kent, possibly more so.

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"Tracking and controlling the spread of this variant is therefore important from a public heath point of view and PHE are monitoring all cases within the borough.

"Everyone over the age of 12 are urged to do twice weekly asymptomatic lateral flow testing to help identify those who may have the virus without symptoms, even if they have had the vaccine.

"Anyone who receives a positive lateral flow test should self-isolate with their household and book a confirmatory PCR test on GOV.UK or by calling 119."