Three schools in St Albans have told children to stay at home and self-isolate.

Children have been turned away from Loreto College, Windermere JMI School and Skyswood Primary & Nursery School less than two weeks into the start of the Autumn term.

A reader told the Review that they believed there were cases of coronavirus in the three schools in the St Albans area.

But Hertfordshire County Council are currently unable to reveal information on confirmed cases due to information being classed as "confidential". Despite this it has been confirmed that a number of pupils have been sent away from school to self-isolate.

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All schools said that they have followed Government guidelines and have been prepared for scenarios such as students or staff having to self-isolate.

A spokesperson for Loreto College said it has asked a number of students to stay at home before returning to school.

They said: "This is a scenario we have prepared for and as unfortunate as it is we always put the safety of our pupils and the whole school community first.

"We cannot give any further details as all data is confidential but we hope all of our students remain safe and well and look forward to welcoming them back when we can."

It was also confirmed that Windermere also asked a number of pupils to self-isolate, although the students have since returned to school.

A spokesperson for the school said: "I can confirm that following government guidelines and having worked closely with Public Health England (PHE), we asked a number of pupils from our school to self-isolate. The pupils haves since returned safely"

Finally, Skyswood School has said it asked a class bubble to self-isolate before returning to school.

St Albans MP Daisy Cooper spoke to the Review about testing in the district and said she has spoken to parents and teachers who said they were displaying symptoms or are living with someone else who does, but yet were unable to access a test.

She added: "This mean teachers and parents will have to self-isolate, disrupting family and school life.

"I’m pleased our local public health team has set up an emergency testing facility for key workers, but the Government’s statement that it will take at least another two weeks to sort out this national testing shambles is absolutely unforgivable.

"The increase in demand for tests from the public and from key workers as schools reopened was entirely predictable, but once again the Government seems not to have had a plan."