Pupils and staff at a Medway school who spent half-term in Italy have been given advice on what to do if they fear they may have coronavirus.

Those who attended the Rochester Math School's trip to the north of the country have returned to class.

The Leigh Academies Trust, which runs the Maidstone Road school, has moved to counter rumours staff and pupils had been told to stay home.

It says nobody has symptoms but should they exhibit any, they have been told to self-isolate immediately, call NHS 111 and notify the school.

Pupils and their teachers were visiting Italy as part of the EU-funded Erasmus project for their maths and science studies, but they did not go to any of the 11 quarantined areas.

There are now believed to be almost 300 people affected with large parts of the north of the country closed off, and 11 deaths recorded.

Yesterday, Walderslade's Greenacre Academy issued a message to parents saying three teachers who had visited Venice over half-term had put themselves into self-isolation.

Leigh trust spokesman Richard Taylor said: "At present no students or staff have any symptoms and therefore the advice from Public Health England and the Department of Education is that they can return to school as they pose no health risk to other students or staff.

"We are monitoring the situation across all 25 academies and producing daily advice in relation to the latest.

"If parents have any concerns they can contact the school in the usual way."

Earlier this week, KentOnline reported how parents at a primary school in Upchurch near Sittingbourne threatened to keep their children away after a teacher went to coronavirus-hit Singapore during half term.

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