A string of Government schools are to move to remote learning and others will start the Easter holiday early as the island faced a new surge in Covid-19 cases, it was revealed yesterday.

Diallo Rabain, the Minister of Education, said that Northlands Primary School in Pembroke and Purvis Primary in Warwick had moved to remote learning over fears about Covid-19 exposure.

CedarBridge Academy and the Berkeley Institute will also shift to remote learning today.

Dellwood Middle School in Pembroke also switched to remote learning yesterday after teachers, students and staff went into quarantine.

Government announced last night that there was a total of 113 coronavirus cases, with school-aged children making up a third of the active infections.

Mr Rabain said the decision had been “a very difficult one”, but that the “bubble” system in schools had limited the potential spread.

He added: “When you talk about a third of cases, that is 33 students out of 4,400 within our system.

“When you look at it from that perspective, I wouldn’t say the genie is out of the bottle.

“I would say our teachers and educators, our leaders within the schools, have done a tremendous job of adhering to the protocols and enforcing the bubbles within our school system and that has allowed us to have much more control.”

David Burt, the Premier, added that education had been affected by people going to school when they should not have, but strict regulations had cut the risk.

Mr Burt said the figures were “better in March than they were in December, and they will be better in April than they were in March”.

He added he had been “crushed” on Monday by “the sight of my daughter – who attends Northlands – crying, wondering why she had to quarantine”.

Mr Rabain said that 102 tests were carried out at Northlands last Friday and two were positive.

He added: “The Department of Health determined the movements of one or more positive individuals within multiple school bubbles made it possible for wider exposure in the school on or before March 19.

“Out of an abundance of caution, the decision was made to transition to remote learning while students and staff are required to quarantine until April 2.”

Mr Rabain said that no infections were found at Purvis Primary among the 138 samples taken at the school last Saturday.

But he added: “However, when the initial exposure case's close contacts were tested, four additional positive cases were identified.

“The DoH determined the movements of one of these positive cases within multiple bubbles at the school made it possible that wider exposure may have happened in the school on or before March 16.

“Therefore, the decision was made to transition to remote learning while students and staff must quarantine until March 30.”

Senior schools CedarBridge Academy and the Berkeley Institute will switch to remote learning tomorrow, although teachers will be required to attend school to conduct classes on a virtual basis.

Mr Rabain also announced the Easter break for public schools will start next Monday rather than next Thursday, with classes set to restart on April 12 as scheduled.

He said: "We acknowledge that the rise in positive cases has disrupted our staffing levels as a result of teachers being ordered to quarantine during contact tracing.

“With this in mind, and out of an abundance of caution, we have decided to move forward proactively.

“Schools will be asked to send out learning packets for students to work on during the four days next week.”

“We also will hold discussions with our union partners about the possibilities of making up those four days."

Mr Rabain added that planned professional development workshops for teachers would still be held next Thursday.

He said that the Government would talk to the Bermuda Union of Teachers about how to make up time lost by the extended Easter break.

Mr Rabain added the ministry had decided on an aggressive approach and asked the public to take precautions and follow the rules to limit the spread of Covid-19.

He said: “The vulnerable must be protected, and that means we must all be considerate of how exposure to Covid-19 affects students, schools, teachers, parents, and the larger community.

“While we have seen our bubbles work very effectively, I want to remind parents to check with their doctor if their child is experiencing any signs of sickness and do not send them to school.”

Anyone with questions about Covid-19 in the schools should contact schoolsurv@gov.bm

Public health guidelines are listed at https://www.gov.bm/coronavirus.