Government plans to reopen all schools in September were called into question by leading scientists and the head of a major teaching union last night amid signs that cases of Covid-19 are increasing again at an alarming rate.
Despite imposing new restrictions on people meeting indoors in parts of the north of England on Thursday – and postponing plans to allow bowling alleys, casinos, skating rinks and other venues to reopen a day later – ministers insist that reopening schools fully early next month remains a top priority.
But in a sign of growing concern and uncertainty about the strategy, Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT, which represents more than 300,000 teachers across the UK, said the government needed to take urgent action to convince parents and teachers that schools would be safe.
While insisting he was not calling for a postponement, Roach told the Observer: “In light of recent changes to plans for relaxing lockdown measures, the government needs to provide greater clarity to school leaders, teachers and parents about what this will mean for the reopening of schools in September.”
He added: “The warning from the chief medical officer [Chris Whitty] that a fine balance has to be struck in ensuring public health at this stage of the pandemic, and that the country may have reached the limits to the easing of lockdown, will no doubt prompt questions for many parents as well as for those working in schools.
“If schools are to reopen safely, the government will need to give them clarification about what they need to do to take account of the latest scientific evidence and advice, as well as sufficient time to review and, if necessary, adjust their reopening plans.”
Meanwhile, Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, said it had become clear that there is a link between closing schools and controlling the spread of the virus. “The evidence is clear that schools are important in the spread of Covid-19,” he said. “Our studies show that, across Europe, closing schools was the single factor most strongly associated with drops in infection rates.”
Hunter added that while individual risks to children and teachers were probably low, school transmission was likely to push up general infection rates, so the disease would rise exponentially again. “Would re-opening schools increase the spread of Covid-19 in the population? Yes. I think it would very probably do that.”
Patrick Roach of the NASUWT wants greater clarity from the government. Photograph: Simon Boothe/NASUWT/PA
The chairman of Sage’s sub-group on pandemic modelling, Graham Medley, said it could come down to a choice between reopening schools and shutting other venues such as pubs. “Most people think that opening schools is a priority for the health and wellbeing of children and that when we do that we are going to reconnect lots of households,” Medley told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Nice hehe