THE MASKED LINGER
Anger as school kids must keep wearing face coverings despite
SCHOOLCHILDREN in Scotland will not be allowed to ditch their masks in the classroom despite the relaxation of most other Covid restrictions.
Nicola Sturgeon said it will remain compulsory for pupils to wear face coverings as the greatest increase in Covid cases is in the 15 and under age group.
Delivering her Covid update at Holyrood yesterday, the First Minister announced further easing of rules including a return to the workplace from Monday.
But she urged employers to adopt a “hybrid” approach when possible and said not all employees should return at once to help lower the risk of crowded public transport.
She said: “We are now on the cusp of a calmer phase of this pandemic. We can all help to ensure that the waters remain calm by taking the sensible steps we know help stem transmission.”
The lack of movement on mask wearing in schools brought a mixed reaction but in her statement, Sturgeon pointed out a 41 per cent rise in cases in the under 15 age group.
She said: “Although cases do remain high, data from this past week paints another broadly positive picture.
“Seven days prior to last Tuesday’s statement, almost 70,000 new cases were identified through PCR and later flow tests – just under 10,000 a day.
“In the most recent seven days, however, there have been just over 50,000 cases, slightly more than 7000 cases a day so reported cases have fallen by just over a quarter.
“There have been significant reductions in every age group except the under-15s. In this youngest age group, cases have increased by 41 per cent.
“This will at least, to some extent, reflect the impact of the return to school and we will continue to monitor cases in this age group closely and we will continue to monitor the data carefully in coming days to see if the increase in cases in younger people is followed by any uptick in older age groups.”
Announcing masks would remain in the classroom, Sturgeon said: “On face coverings, I know young people, like many adults, want to see the back of them as soon as possible.
“I know many young people understand and agree, especially when cases in the younger age group are rising, that coverings do provide important protection.”
The decision was met with an angry response in some sectors. Rector of Glasgow’s Kelvnside Academy Daniel Wyatt called the guidance “farcical”.
He said: “Nightclubs are open and 50,000 people can go to watch sport, yet restrictions on pupils remain – the impact on pupils’ development and mental health could be catastrophic. Many pupils will spend half of their secondary school careers in masks.
“While teachers have adapted extremely
well to truly understand how to interact, they really need to see their pupils’ faces.”
Tory leader Douglas Ross tweeted: “The First Minister isn’t even following public health advice on this. University of Edinburgh expert Christine Tait-Burkard said this week, ‘I would expect for schools the removal of face masks to be relatively soon as in early to mid-February’.
“Why has the Gov not set a date for the removal of face masks in classrooms?”
But Sturgeon said: “I hope the time is coming when that won’t be necessary but anyone with a degree of responsibility who, in the face of what I have reported today … to say this is the moment when young people no longer need to wear face coverings frankly isn’t showing responsibility.”
Scotland’s biggest teaching union, the EIS, backed the First Minister.
General Secretary Larry Flanagan said: “Pupil and teacher absences from Covid may have dropped slightly but they remain high so continuing with the current mitigations, including face coverings, for the immediate future makes sense and the EIS welcomes this cautious approach.”