Pressure on PM to open schools early
BORIS Johnson is under pressure to reopen schools earlier than his March 8 target.
The demands to get children back into the classroom came after it was announced that pupils will be back in Scotland and Wales this month.
Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon this week confirmed a phased return to the classroom from February 22 and yesterday theWelsh health minister Vaughan Gething announced primary schools will return on the same date.
Lockdown critics in the Tory party pointed to the UK’s successful rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine, which now offers protection to more than 10million people.
Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, said the rate of the fall in cases made him optimistic pupils could go back before March 8. He told Radio 4: “There could well be a case for opening schools sooner – particularly for children under 11, where the evidence they contribute to the spread of the epidemic is a lot lower.
“I would hope to see schools, and particularly junior schools, opening relatively soon.”
But the Prime Minister appears determined not to be derailed from his cautious timetable.
So far he has said he will unveil a route map out of lockdown on February 22, after the four most vulnerable groups have been vaccinated.
Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi hinted the government is looking at vaccinating the top nine risk categories – around 32 million people – before relaxing restrictions.