TAVISTOCK College will be partially closed from tomorrow (Thursday) due to staff shortages.

The news that the school would be closed to year 7 and 8 students was announced earlier this morning as staff numbers deplete due to some choosing to self-isolate as the coronavirus crisis unfolds.

Heateacher Sarah Jones said to the Times: ‘The actions taken are to maintain the health and safety of young people. As the situation unfolds we find more staff are choosing to self-isolate as they are following the Government’s advice. We are keeping a watchful eye on this and this is a temporary and partial closure.

‘We are making contingency plans for vulnerable children and those in receipt of free school meals. We plan to continue on as best we can through online learning packages. We understand that people don’t have internet so we are going to have a contingency plan for those families.'

Callington College is also closed to Year 12 students from today.

All of Devons schools will remain open until government guidance rules otherwise, Devon County councillors were told this week.

Dr Virginia Pearson, director of Public Health, told the council’s children’s scrutiny committee that the council had started regular planning meetings in January to formulate their response and were keeping to the Public Health England guidance.

She said that the Government had chosen not to take the same action as other countries to close down schools but that the coronavirus would have an ‘unprecedented impact on our lives for some time’.

She added: ‘As soon as you start closing schools, there is an immediate impact on parents. This is going to be for the long-haul and the virus will spread and affect a wide range of people in the community, although mainly older and those with underlying health issues.

‘Going back a month, I don’t think we were expecting the significant impact in terms of lives lost and on the economy. It is unprecedented the impact this will have on our lives for some time.

‘The Government has not taken the same action to date as other countries to close schools with the intention to halt the spread. The view of the scientists here, is that it is already in the community so we need to manage the social and economic impacts rather than tackle it by shutting down England for two weeks.

‘As the virus becomes widespread, we should not be surprised at different groupings it appears in, but for the majority of people, it will be a mild illness. There are at risk groups in the community and we are expecting more advice about how to protect them.’

Dawn Stabb, head of education and learning, added that there were daily briefings that were being provided to schools and that so far, there have only been two short closures in the county.

Cllr James McInnes, cabinet member for children’s services, said that there was a tremendous amount of work going on behind the scenes and that people should follow the national guidance of experts.

‘In the world of social media, almost everyone is an expert. But we need to follow the national guidance. Schools will remaining open until the national decision is that they should not do. Only by mobilising the whole community, will we get through this the best we can.’