Alarm bells have been raised over the ‘horrific’ number of coronavirus cases among school aged children in Bracknell.

According to recent figures, the infection rate stands at 3,772 cases per 100,000 people for those aged five to nine, and 3,304 among those aged 10-14.

The majority of the new cases 44 per cent, were recorded in the under 18 age range.

Meanwhile 17 per cent of new cases were in the 18 to 34 demographic, 34 per cent were in the 35 to 64 age range and six per cent were among those aged 65 and over.

These percentages are according to figures in the fortnight period between January 12 and January 25, when a total of 3,363 cases were recorded.

That means approximately 1,479 children under 18 caught coronavirus in that two-week period.

Figures for coronavirus cases among school aged children were presented at  meeting of Bracknell Forest Council’s Local Outbreak Engagement Board this week (Tuesday, February 1).

Councillors expressed concerns about rocketing cases among children.

Councillor Marc Brunel-Walker (Conservative, Crown Wood) said: “I’m looking at these numbers, and they’re horrific!

“It’s not the same, but I work with a scout group, so we see beaver age, cub age, scout age and explorer age children, and I think we’ve probably got somewhere between a third and a half of our groups are off right now through either isolation or because they’ve got it.

“The school numbers are horrific despite the incredible job that our headteachers and all of our excellent staff are doing.”

Cllr Brunel-Walker also  expressed worry about the ‘disconnect’ between the attitude of the Government and headteachers on the issue of covid-19 cases in schools.

Last month, Nadhim Zahawi, secretary of state for education (Conservative, Stratford-upon-Avon) said that staff should do everything they can to keep schools open.

Cllr Brunel-Walker added: “I’m not sure who to aim that rant at, but surely somebody somewhere in central government see this data as well?”

Replying to him, the council’s chief executive Timothy Wheadon said: “The government are perfectly aware of the numbers in schools, they just have a slightly different interpretation on how best to deal with it.”

Measures that schools can take when a Covid-19 outbreaks were revised on January 19.

Additionally, the requirement for pupils to wear masks in secondary schools was removed on January 20.

Another councillor at the meeting argued that Covid-19 can still be a serious matter for children, depsite indications that omicron is less severe than previous strains.

Cllr Barnard (Conservative, Warfield Harvest Ride) said: “There are a number of folkloric myths around.

“Young people do get covid, they do get symptoms, and it does wipe them out.

“So it’s not symptom free in young people, and secondly yes, the omicron variant may be less severe, it’s nonetheless not particularly pleasant.

“Our headteachers are under a huge amount of pressure, because every action they are taking to try and reduce the transmission of infection in schools against signigifcantly reduced framework for the measures they are allowed to take by Government puts a significant amount of pressure.

“My plea is please cut some of the headteachers some slack.

“I have seen several emails from parents expressing huge frustration, that with very short notice, their children have not been able to attend school, but it’s because it’s not safe for them to do so.”

Vaccinations have been made available to children aged 12 to 15.

According to figures from January 28, 65 per cent of 12 to 15 year-olds have had one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, and 22 per cent have had a second dose.