AS many youngsters return to school today in Gwynedd, the council is asking secondary school pupils to take lateral flow tests twice a week.

School staff are being urged to do the same with contact groups put in place across the county last year no longer in place.

A Gwynedd Council spokesperson said: “Most school pupils are returning to school today (Thursday) here in Gwynedd. Staff have been working hard to ensure that all necessary preparations are in place so that the pupils are able to return safely and we are grateful to them for their continued efforts.

“In accordance with Welsh Government regulations, contact groups which had been in place during the last school year, are no longer in place. However, we continue to urge secondary school pupils as well as all school staff to ensure that they take the lateral flow tests twice a week, to report the results, and to stay home if they test positive and make arrangements for a PCR test.”

Welsh Government guidance also asks families and learners to continue to follow guidance on isolating, testing and vaccination, to minimise the risk of the spread of Covid in education settings.

The guidance for any staff or learner with symptoms of Covid-19 - however mild – is to stay at home and book a PCR test.

Jeremy Miles, minister for education and Welsh language, said: “Earlier in the summer, I wanted to ensure that at the start of the 2021/22 school year, we could keep learners and staff safe, and lessen the possible disruptions posed by Covid-19.

“By now, all of our workforce will either have received or been offered a vaccine. We have also offered the vaccine to all of Wales 16 and 17 year olds, and will offer it to clinically vulnerable 12 to 15 year olds.

“This means the risks posed by Covid are much lower – but we still need people to follow some rules, to make sure we don’t risk the level of disruption of day-to-day learning that we saw during the pandemic.”

The minister added: “I’d like to thank everyone across Wales for their efforts in helping us to get to this point. And by continuing to follow these measures, we can all look forward to starting a safer and more stable year, in which schools and colleges will be the safest place learners can be.”