TWO year groups from the same Gwent school have been sent home for distance learning as covid cases continue to rocket in Gwent.

Blackwood Comprehensive School’s year eight and nine will be learning from home until the end of the week after a number of cases of Covid and staff shortages.

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A spokesman for Caerphilly County Borough Council said: “It is clear from the latest absence figures that Covid-19 has not gone away, and we are grateful to our school staff for working hard to keep pupils and colleagues safe.

“We continue to urge secondary school pupils and school staff to take regular lateral flow tests and not to attend school if they test positive or display any Covid-19 symptoms. Those with symptoms should seek a PCR test immediately and follow the relevant guidelines to help keep themselves and those around them safe.”

The news follows reports in the South Wales Argus last week that more than 600 pupils in Gwent were self-isolating due to coronavirus.

Pupils have been in just a few weeks when schools across the Gwent region recorded hundreds of new cases among pupils and staff. A class in Blaenau Gwent was sent home after a week of school after a spike in cases.