Pupils face Sars quarantine

Pupils face Sars quarantine

Hethersett Old Hall School will 'isolate' some returning pupils

A number of pupils at a boarding school in Norfolk will be put into quarantine while tests are carried out for the Sars virus.

And several others at a school in Essex have been urged to stay in the UK for the Easter break rather than travel home to Hong Kong.

Hethersett Old Hall School is an independent girls' school just outside Norwich which has several boarders whose parents live in the Far East.

Following the outbreak of the flu-like virus known as Sars, the school has sent a letter to parents telling them how they hope to keep the school free of infection.

The school said: "We intend to keep the Hong Kong pupils in isolation for a week until we are sure they are symptom free."

Reassuring parents

Chairman of the governors Henry Speer said: "The thing we're most concerned about is to reassure other parents of children who haven't been to the Far East that there's no chance of them being open to this possible difficulty."

At the Royal Grammar School in Colchester, students from Hong Kong have been urged not to go home for Easter, but to stay with guardians in the UK instead.

Last week, a man from Essex who had recently returned from the Far East was treated at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge for a suspected case of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

He has now been allowed to go home.

Although one in 25 of those diagnosed has died from Sars, health officials say it can be treated and that the public is not at risk.