Covid-19-related absences in local schools have fallen slightly after a spike in the number of pupils missing school.
On Tuesday March 29 1,335 pupils across Angus, Dundee, Fife and Perth and Kinross were off school because they had a Covid-19 illness.
Similar to last week, self-isolation is no longer the main cause of pupil absences, with 1,081 pupils in Tayside and Fife missing school because of quarantine.
Figures also show there has been an increase in the number of Fife school staff testing positive for the virus; however, this has fallen in Tayside.
Data is released weekly by the Scottish Government and includes pupils and all school staff who test positive for the virus, were self-isolating or whose parents chose to keep them off because of virus concerns.
Covid-19 absences in schools
The number of pupils missing school because of a positive Covid-19 test has fallen since last week.
There were 806 pupils off in the kingdom on March 22 and by March 29, this had fallen slightly to 657.
Similarly, Covid-19-related absences in Angus and Perth and Kinross also fell compared to the previous week, with 257 and 259 pupils, respectively, off on March 29.
That is compared to 398 and 346 on March 22.
Dundee saw 162 pupils off due to coronavirus on Tuesday – compared to 192 seven days previous.
Isolation no longer main cause for absences
Self-isolation is no longer the main cause for virus-related absences among pupils but is still impacting thousands of pupils in the four local authorities.
There were 553 pupils isolating in Fife on Tuesday and 278 in Perth and Kinross – both down on last week.
In Angus, 121 pupils were isolating, compared to 148 on March 22.
And in Dundee, 129 pupils were isolating on March 29.
Our guide to isolation rules can be found here.
How many teachers are off with Covid-19?
The Scottish Government also reveal figures for the number of school staff that have tested positive or are isolating.
The figures show an increase in the number off staff absent in Fife schools, rising from 150 on March 22 to 231 on March 29.
Teaching representatives from the EIS union have said schools are being pushed to their limits because of the reduced workforce.
In Angus 114 school staff were absent on March 29, and in Dundee, Fife and Perth and Kinross, 157, 231 and 115 school staff were off, respectively.
This is down in every Tayside area compared to the same time last week.
