MP Praises Council Response to SARS

2.40.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 6th May 2003

Local MP Vincent Cable warmly praised the local education authority's response to parents' worries about the SARS virus.

Within hours of his having approached the Chief Education Officer about the need for a response to worries about the virus getting into local schools, the LEA had sent a circular to schools urging a "precautionary approach."

The LEA has requested the notification of children and staff returning from SARS affected areas and offered advice on how to deal with suspected cases (but not quarantining children from SARS areas).

Vincent Cable said: "I had been approached by parents and particularly by a local parent and teacher seriously worried about her child who suffers serious immune deficiency and would be highly vulnerable to any new virus. "

"I felt that the LEA responded in an exemplary manner. It has steered the right course between avoiding complacency and over reacting through compulsory quarantine".