Daily Express

Medics urge ministers to end lockdown for children

- By David Pilditch

NEARLY 300 NHS doctors and leading healthcare profession­als have warned that children have become “collateral damage” in the fight against coronaviru­s.

The medics are demanding Government action amid concerns that lockdown policies are threatenin­g the welfare of youngsters.

In an open letter, they have called for immediate funding for 30 hours a week of summer holiday activities for every child in Britain – and accused the ministers of prioritisi­ng the opening of theme parks, clothes and DIY stores above education.

The doctors have also demanded a “cast iron guarantee” that every child will return to full-time schooling at the end of the summer.

The letter was co-ordinated by Dr Sunil Bhopal, chairman of the Internatio­nal Child Health Group.

He said: “If we can rescue the economy through a furlough scheme, if we can rescue the NHS through Nightingal­e Hospitals, then surely we can use the same sort of ambition to look after our children.”

The letter, which has been sent to education select committee chairman Robert Halfon and ministers, calls for schools to reopen and “the Government to rescue childhood and to give children the best summer ever.”

They added: “We know now, crucially, that children are at vastly lower risk of catching the Covid-19 virus than older adults.

“But our collective study and experience says that children and young people are at huge risk from the effects of lockdown and social distancing policies.”

Last night, Christine Brett of campaign group UsforThem said: “This letter adds further weight to the previous pleas to the Government from 150 child psychologi­sts and 1,500 paediatric­ians who outlined the damage of social distancing to children, in whom the risk of the virus is low.”

 ??  ?? ‘Rescue’... Dr Bhopal
‘Rescue’... Dr Bhopal

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