BACK TO SCHOOL BEFORE SUMMER

Pupils could return to class within weeks Garden centres and DIY stores set to open mid-May Sturgeon will reveal lockdown exit plan this week

THOUSANDS of pupils may be allowed back to school before the summer holidays as Scotland considers loosening coronavirus lockdown restrictions.

Ministers are ‘actively considering’ implementing a phased return to the classroom much earlier than expected – and some pupils could be back at their desks within weeks.

They are looking at Denmark, where some pupils have already returned in classrooms of no more than ten, as a potential model to follow, say Scottish Government sources.

Nicola Sturgeon has promised to publish a strategy for exiting lockdown this week.

She wants to bring a ‘better balance’ to daily life, which may involve some people returning to work in masks and maintaining social distancing measures.

Moves to consider a return to school come as UK Government officials are drawing up a three-stage ‘traffic light’ plan, which would let some retail outlets reopen next month.

Under the first ‘red’ phase of the plan, businesses such as garden centres, DIY stores and hairdressers would be able to open their

doors, subject to strict social distancing arrangements.

The ‘amber’ phase – probably in June or July – would see book shops and restaurants open on condition that tables were far enough apart.

Most children and office workers would also leave isolation.

The ‘green’ phase – a full return to normality including pubs opening and events with large crowds – would depend on the development of widespread testing for Covid-19 and consistently low levels of infections and deaths. The elderly and vulnerable would remain ‘shielded’ until a vaccine is available, which may take up to 18 months.

The deaths of a further 888 people were announced yesterday – 56 more in Scotland – but the number of hospital patients with the virus fell by 952 to 17,759, further raising hopes that mortality rates are plateauing. The total number of UK deaths now stands at 15,464. In other developments:

Senior political and business figures will today call on the UK Government to map a path out of the crippling lockdown;

Prince Harry said he was ‘incredibly proud’ of Britain’s response to the pandemic;

Gun salutes to mark the Queen’s 94th birthday on Tuesday were cancelled;

The sum raised by war veteran Captain Tom Moore’s sponsored walk passed £23 million and his version of You’ll Never Walk Alone topped the iTunes chart;

The World Health Organisation warned there was ‘no evidence’ that having had the virus guaranteed immunity;

The number of cases worldwide reached 2.2 million with 155,000 deaths. Spain’s death toll alone passed 20,000.

Former Cabinet ministers David Davis and Iain Duncan Smith have joined forces with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and City bosses to warn that the lack of a clear exit strategy could wreak lasting damage on the UK economy.

But the Scottish Government is keen to present any exit strategy announcement this week as the start of a conversation about how the lockdown would end, rather than presenting the public with a fait accompli, sources said.

It is understood that officials believe it is now more likely than not that some pupils will be back behind a desk before the end of June, although nothing is certain.

A senior source said: ‘People are now actively looking at whether it is possible.’

The Scottish Government wants to use the next three weeks of lockdown to get a better understanding of rates of deaths and infections, and see how other countries have exited. Sources stressed that Scotland’s own exit is likely to be tentative and gradual, with a strong emphasis on the continuing need for a two-metre distance between people at all times.

That will also be a key factor in determining when and how children return to schools. Rather than bring all pupils back at once, some year groups are likely to be prioritised.

Which year groups would return first has not yet been decided, but it could be P7 children, in order to