Coronavirus rates among young children in Greater Manchester have reached record levels.
Infections among five to nine year olds are at at all-time high in seven of the region's borough's and are still on the rise.
While older age groups have seen a slump in cases, the spike among children - with rates also high among 0-4 year olds - is now bringing overall infection rates back up.
Tameside has the highest rate among the five to nine year olds, at 2448.9 cases a week per 100,000 population (up to January 19). The second highest is Bolton, with a rate of 1773.5 per 100,000.
Last Monday saw 682 cases reported for that age group, the highest daily total reported during the pandemic.
The seven boroughs with record levels for ages five to nine are:
- Tameside 2448.9
- Trafford 2107.7
- Bolton 1773.5
- Wigan 1760.2
- Manchester 1726.0
Stockport 1657.5
- Salford 1645.9
In Rochdale, Oldham and Bury, rates are very high in the same age group, but slightly lower than the peak rates.
The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show that across the UK, from January 15, the percentage of people testing positive decreased in all age groups except those aged 2 years to school Year 6.
And it comes as school attendance figures published today (Tuesday) show that in England, one out of every eight pupils were off last Thursday, and staffing problems are worsening, with a quarter of schools seeing teachers and leaders' absence rates above 15%.
While paediatricians are not reporting Omicron to be a more serious or severe disease in children and young people in the UK - and it's reassuring that very few children and young people admitted to hospital with Omicron are needing paediatric intensive care - the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health says 'we cannot be complacent'.
And for many schools and families, it's about the ongoing disruption to jobs and education.
Darren Morgan, headteacher of Kings Road Primary School, in Stretford, Trafford, and says the pandemic is still proving challenging.
"We have nearly 700 pupils in our school and currently have 14 confirmed cases amongst children and four staff cases," he said.
"Staffing the school has been very difficult this term, generally we have had around 10 members of staff, which in addition to the pressures that brings during normal times; these are at a time when there is a high level of accountability post lockdowns from Ofsted and the government."
While they have started to ease some measures, there are still restrictions in place to try to curb transmission.
A one-way system remains in place, staff are wearing masks in communal areas and even some pupils have chosen to wear masks, said the headteacher.
Doors and windows are open to boost ventilation, which can sometimes mean the children wearing coats to keep warm.
Is Covid still causing disruption at your child's school? Are there many positive cases among pupils and staff? Do you think more needs to be done to improve ventilation? Let us know your views in the comments here.
A lack of air purifiers has been a sore spot for schools throughout the pandemic, especially when other countries have made them so readily available in classrooms.
In December, Iain Linsdell, head of Poplar Primary School in Audenshaw, Tameside, said pupils were resorting to working in their coats, gloves and scarves because the only way to improve ventilation was to have the windows open.
He criticised the Department for Education for telling mainstream schools to order their own air purifiers - something that would cost him £10,000 - because the government is only funding the air cleaning units at alternative provision and specialist or mainstream SEND settings.
With schools still facing disruption from positive cases, teaching unions and education leaders were somewhat surprised by the Prime Minister's announcement to scrap masks in secondary classrooms last week and in communal areas from this Thursday.
Many headteachers, with the backing of local public health directors, have decided to keep them in place - a move backed by union leaders. Tameside and Wigan are among the authorities recommending that masks be worn in communal and crowded areas until February half term.
"The government’s unexpected announcement last week that face coverings are now no longer recommended in classrooms, and from Thursday in communal areas, reduced the defences available to schools to control the spread of Covid 19," said Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders.
“The contingency framework guidance continues to be that face coverings can be retained or reintroduced on the advice of local public health officials and the Department for Education in an individual school or across a local area if there is sufficient concern about Covid-19 infection rates in that area.
"While no one wants to see face coverings worn in schools for longer than is necessary, it is right that this should continue to be an option where public health officials believe it will help to stop local outbreaks.”
Mr Barton said that in light of the latest pupil and staff absence figures, schools need more support from the government.
“The passing of the first two full weeks of the spring term have seen attendance deteriorate further in our schools, with even more students and staff away from the classroom," he said.
“Of particular concern is that almost one in 10 of our teaching staff are away from work. As well as the impact on affected staff themselves, this also poses significant issues for leaders in trying to ensure they can continue to provide education for all pupils, including through the use of expensive and scarce supply staff. They need much more help from the government to meet the mounting costs they face."
A Tameside Council spokesperson said: “In line with the national guidance, the local authority and schools in Tameside have continued to work effectively together to plan for and respond to cases of COVID-19 amongst staff and students in a way that prioritises the quality of education and support to which students and staff are entitled.
“Although overall case numbers have fallen in Tameside they are not yet low and have plateaued over the last week. Rates among children and young people continue to increase, many schools are seeing significantly high levels of covid-related absence and also experiencing challenges with staffing capacity as a result.
“We are therefore strongly encouraging the continued use of face coverings for all staff and adults in schools and secondary pupils whilst in indoor communal or crowded spaces until February half term, and particularly where our Public Health Team is working with schools that have those high case rates."
The spokesperson added: "Many of our schools are experiencing active outbreaks and we will continue to support and agree measures as always to minimise transmission and disruption of learning. The public health team continue to monitor data on a daily basis.
“There are also a number of other measures schools have in place to reduce the risk of transmission and keep our children and young people safe, including; hand washing, making sure there’s an adequate supply of fresh air (ventilation) in enclosed areas, participating in regular testing, testing daily if a close contact of a confirmed case, self-isolating if required to, and taking up the offer of a vaccination or booster dose if eligible to.
"The continued priority across the borough is to keep our schools open as safely as possible for staff and learners.”
Helen Gollins, acting director of public health at Trafford Council, said: "Rates in our primary school aged children are higher than other groups, however this is not unexpected.
"This age group has not been offered vaccination against Covid-19 and the data is likely to be altered by our targeted testing in primary schools which have serious outbreaks as this often picks up multiple cases in that age group.
“We are pleased to see our rates coming down in our general population, however, we recognise that recent changes to the national testing policy could account for some of the reduction.”
