CLASS ACTION
SCHOOLS may have to close during the second coronavirus lockdown because ministers ignored advice to shut the country down earlier, a government adviser has said.
Sir Jeremy Farrar said schools should close if infection rates continue to soar - despite Boris Johnson saying they will stay open during the latest country-wide shut down.
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But No10 stressed school was the best place for kids to be, and they would not shut again,
Sir Jeremy - a member of the Government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) - also hinted that the Covid lockdown could be extended beyond December 2, saying Brits should not be "fixed on" that date.
He told The Andrew Marr Show yesterday: "Because we have delayed the onset of this lockdown, it does make keeping schools [open] harder.
"If the transmission in secondary schools continues to rise that may have to be revisited in the next four weeks."
Sir Jeremy claimed schools could have been kept open safely if a "circuit-breaker" lockdown had been introduced six weeks ago.
He said: "It would have been possible certainly to have kept schools open whereas I think that is a question now.
"It's without doubt true of every epidemic, and particularly this epidemic, that if you go earlier and you go harder earlier you'll be able to prevent the transmission building up."
Meanwhile another Sage adviser has recommended that older kids should wear masks in the classrooms.
Sir Jeremy Farrar has said: “Masks can play a role in schools. Ventilation isn’t necessarily very good.
"I do think masks could play a role in secondary schools."
And another top Government scientist, Professor Andrew Hayward, from UCL, who sits on the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats group (Nervtag) along with Sage, said the national shutdown would be longer because of the decision to keep schools open.
Professor Hayward told BBC Radio 4: "I think if we had chosen a two week circuit break (last month) we would definitely have saved thousands of lives and inflicted substantially less damage to our economy than the proposed four week lockdown.
"It is clear there is substantial transmission within secondary schools and we of course are needing to prioritise education."
HIGH TRANSMISSION
The comments come after The National Education Union called for the Government to close schools and colleges when the new restrictions in England come into force on Thursday, adding that if they are not shut the measures will be less effective.
The union’s joint general secretary Kevin Courtney said: “We think it is a real missed opportunity, it's another half measure and, without school closures as part of it, it is unlikely to have the effect that the Prime Minister wants.”
But No10 said today schools were the "best place" for kids to be - for their learning and mental wellbeing.
"School is the best place for our children," the PM's spokesperson said today.
"We cant let the virus damage our children's futures any more than it has already.
"There is an exceptionally small risk of children of primary school children dying from Covid 19. We are committed to keeping children in the classroom and providing them with an education.
"The PM made a commitment schools would not close if we were forced to close down other sectors or parts of the economy, we have stood by that."
Numerous studies have shown kids are now far behind in their learning as a result of the lockdown, and many risk falling even more behind as they struggle to catch up.
And the divide between rich and poor pupils had widened thanks to the nationwide shutdown of schools.
Cabinet Minister Michael Gove admitted the four-week lockdown may have to be extended if the measures did not bring the R rate down to below one - and even then they would only be slightly eased.
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster said: "We are going to review it on December 2 but we are driven by the data.
"On the basis of what we have been told it should drive the R rate below 1.
"It’s our hope that we have significantly reduced the reinfection (R) rate."
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On Saturday Boris Johnson ordered England into a second lockdown, after being told thousands of deaths could be occurring a day from the virus by Christmas if left unchecked.
But he added schools, colleges and universities should remain open.
They will be responsible for ensuring social-distancing measures are in place.
The Prime Minister was presented with horrifying plans in the event of hospitals becoming overwhelmed - including storing dead bodies in skating centres, amid warnings of 4,000 deaths a day.
Sir Simon Stevens, head of the NHS, pulled together the plans amid fears thousands would die at the peak of the second wave - expected to come by Christmas if nothing is done.
It was said to be this which convinced the PM to make the U-turn and order a national lockdown.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer supported the move to keep schools open, saying they “must stay open” but added “we’ve got to manage the risk”.
He told BBC's Andrew Marr show today: “I want schools open, I think the harm to children from being out of school is too high - we have to manage the risk but it is a priority to keep schools open.
“We need to make sure that they are as safe as possible. The government should put in place effective testing at school.
“Put children, teachers and staff at the front of the queue in the same way as NHS staff to make sure we control it.”
I want schools open, I think the harm to children from being out of school is too high - we have to manage the risk but it is a priority to keep schools open
Sir Keir Starmer
Mr Courtney said not including schools and colleges in the new lockdown would probably lead to the need for a longer lockdown in the future.
He said: “The National Education Union called for a two-week circuit break over half-term to include schools, which the Wales Government and the Northern Ireland assembly have done – but the Government in Westminster has ignored this call.
“More severe measures are now called for as a result, the Government should not make this mistake again.
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“The Government should include all schools in proposals for an immediate national lockdown and as a minimum be preparing for school rotas at the end of that period, including by actually meeting its promise to deliver broadband and equipment to those children who do not have them."
Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, also backed calls for schools to be closed as a way to get the number of cases down.
He said in a joint press conference with Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram: “I would suggest a period of two weeks' closure towards the second half of November so that schools have time to prepare online learning, but that would create the conditions for the biggest drop in cases that we could achieve and it would then create the conditions for some kind of Christmas for more families because they need it right now.”
Mr Rotheram said the Government had told northern leaders that 25 per cent of infections were transmitted in education settings - the same proportion as the hospitality setting.
There have been more than 35,000 cases on campuses since term started last month, according to figures from the UCU.
The Sun Says
IT comes as no surprise that Britain’s biggest teaching union wants schools closed during the new lockdown.
This is the same National Education Union that opposed the reopening of schools after the first lockdown.
School pupils, who are among those least physically affected by the disease, have already suffered terribly from the pandemic because of lost lessons.
Even Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer knows the NEU is wrong and that keeping kids off school would blight the futures of thousands of young people, and would disproportionately harm those less well-off.
Dedicated school staff who have been doing their best to make sure that does not happen have our thanks. They deserve better than the NEU.
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But it will apply to England only - Scotland and Wales have said they will assess the situation and apply their own rules.
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