‘Day is coming’ for no masks at school
Experts agree virus has been ‘defanged’ but no date yet for lifting of curbs
THE ‘day is coming’ when face masks will be scrapped in Scotland’s schools, a senior Scottish Government official has said.
Professor Jason Leitch said he expects clinical advice to soon allow for pupils to remove their masks.
The national clinical director also agreed with another top adviser that coronavirus has been ‘defanged’ and all remaining restrictions will be gradually lifted.
His comments come after parent groups and health experts urged the Scottish Government to follow the UK Government’s decision this week and abolish laws on face coverings.
However, Deputy First Minister John Swinney said on Thursday that rules on face masks remain ‘absolute’ in Scotland despite being scrapped south of the Border.
Scottish Government Covid-19 advisory group member Professor Devi Sridhar this week said science has ‘defanged’ coronavirus and described as ‘reasonable’ Boris Johnson’s decision to lift remaining restrictions, including face masks .
Asked about the comments yesterday, Professor Leitch said: ‘What Devi is saying is that science has got us to this point and now you should think about what comes next. What list you have left and in which order you do these things, that is up to each individual country.
‘What we have got left... is working from home, face coverings in schools and indoor places, we’ve got Test and Protect. Most businesses are now open, on Monday theatres, cinemas, indoor events will all come back. What do you do next on that list?
‘Now that’s a judgment. Is it you remove the working from home, is it you remove the face coverings? We’ve learned removing the plaster all at once goes badly, so don’t do it all at once, do it gradually.
‘Impose all at once, because the virus will respond well to that, but as you come out you have got to do it gradually. So I think Devi’s end point is correct. I think we have defanged the virus to some extent and I think these things will, in time, go.’
Pressed on how long it might be before face masks in schools are scrapped, he said he did not know but an expert group is looking at the issue.
He told BBC Good Morning Scotland: ‘That education recovery group... they don’t want face coverings in secondary schools unless it is the safest thing to do and they will give us advice to remove them when they think it is appropriate. And I think that day is coming.’
The minutes of a meeting of the Scottish Government’s Covid-19 advisory group held on October 5 last year showed they concluded that removing face coverings while pupils are seated in class ‘should be a priority’.
It made the recommendation ‘given the potential impacts on learning and communication, and because of the reported discomfort some young people experience as a result of this mitigation’.
But the advice was rejected by SNP ministers, who extended their use in classrooms and communal areas of secondary schools, as well as on school transport. Speaking at Holyrood’s Covid-19 recovery committee on Thursday, Mr Swinney said: ‘As things stand just now, the Scottish Government is absolutely crystal clear that the requirement to wear face coverings in public spaces, in public transport and in secondary schools remains absolute.’
Scottish Conservative health spokesman Sandesh Gulhane said yesterday: ‘It’s clear that experts and Scottish Government advisers believe we should be looking to remove the requirements for face masks in schools, so why are SNP ministers still so reluctant to consider this?
‘John Swinney was adamant yesterday in committee that the need for face coverings in classrooms was ‘absolute’, yet Jason Leitch, like infections expert Dr Christine Tait-Burkard, can see the case for them is ebbing away.
‘The SNP must stop dragging their heels on this and end this restriction as soon as possible.
Face masks have a negative impact on learning, especially for those children with extra needs, and, after two years of disruptions caused by the pandemic, pupils, teachers and parents want some normality restored to education.’
Dr Gulhane added: ‘But once again, we’re witnessing a government that’s too quick to impose harsh restrictions and too slow to ease them.’
FEW lives have gone untouched by Covid19 but the impact on young people has been particularly cruel. They are the demographic least at risk from the virus but their lives were placed on hold just like everyone else’s.
For children, this meant long stretches stuck at home, forbidden to go to school, separated from their friends, their opportunities for physical activity severely limited. They faced months of lessons by Zoom, constant uncertainty about exams and fears that all this upheaval would take its toll on their coursework.
When they have been allowed into the classroom, they have been muzzled all day long by uncomfortable face masks.
It is a matter of contention whether school days are the best days of our lives, but this generation of children will never truly know. A significant portion of their school days has been stolen from them.
That is why it is encouraging to hear Jason Leitch, the Scottish Government’s national clinical director, predict that ‘the day is coming’ when pupils will no longer be made to wear masks.
This would bring us in line with England, where masks have ceased to be compulsory, though are often still encouraged. More importantly, it would begin to give children their youth and their education back.