London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 16, 2025

Covid in Scotland: More than 32,000 school pupils absent this week

Covid in Scotland: More than 32,000 school pupils absent this week

More than 32,000 pupils have been absent from school this week due to Covid-19.

The most up-to-date figures - for Tuesday - show that 6,471 pupils were not in school because they had the virus and 25,622 were self-isolating.

The number of pupils with Covid has gone up by almost 3,500 in a week, while those isolating have doubled from 12,636 the week before.

Whole classes no longer need to isolate following a positive case.

Due to the relaxation of the rules, many pupils are likely to be off school for just one or two days if their test is negative, rather than 10 days.

BBC Scotland previously reported that almost half of pupils at St Ninian's High School in Kirkintilloch were absent on Tuesday due to Covid.

It was understood that more than 400 pupils did not attend the school, which has a pupil roll of 850.

Many of the pupils were thought to be isolating while awaiting PCR test results.

East Dunbartonshire Council said families had adopted a "cautious approach".


Under the new Scottish government rules, sitting next to someone in class is no longer a guarantee of being deemed a close contact.

The guidance says close contacts are likely to be parents and siblings, those who have stayed overnight, and those who have had "clear, prolonged contact".

A close contact will now only be formally notified by local public health teams.

If someone is deemed a close contact, they must isolate, book a PCR test and wait for the result. If the result is negative, they can return to school.

This can mean as little as one day away from lessons.

As was the case previously, someone with a positive result must remain at home for the full self-isolation period.

'Targeted approach'


On Tuesday, Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said the new rules were based on analysis of data over the past year. She said it was a targeted approach which identified children and young people who were higher-risk close contacts.

Ms Somerville said the new approach reflected the changes in the public health impact of Covid achieved through high vaccination coverage, as well as "evidence about the risks of infection and transmission amongst children, young people and staff in schools, set against the educational harms that result from large numbers of children and young people self-isolating".

Scotland's Covid cases have been surging in the last week, with 6,400 new cases reported on Thursday and a further 17 deaths.

Case numbers doubled in a week and Deputy First Minister John Swinney said the rise was partly being fuelled by the return of schools after the summer holidays.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
×