Prime Minister Boris Johnson has insisted it will be safe for England’s schoolchildren to return to classes in September.
He told reporters during a visit to Herefordshire: “I have no doubt that it can be done safely. Schools are doing a huge amount to make sure that it is done safely.
“Just for the sake of social justice, ensuring that all our kids get the education they need, we need to get our pupils, our children, back to school in September and I am very, very impressed by the work that has been done to make those schools Covid-secure.”
The Government has said all children in England should return to school when the new academic year starts in September.
Children have today retired to classrooms in Scotland for the first time.
It comes amid claims a Public Health England report will show that it is as easy for secondary-aged pupils to transmit coronavirus as it is for adults.
And it comes as unions express their concerns for the safety of staff and students.
Asked about reports that work by Public Health England suggested secondary school pupils transmit coronavirus like adults, Boris Johnson said: “I’m very, very impressed by the way schools have got ready.
“Obviously we need to make sure that we don’t have a second wave, that we do everything we can to avoid a second wave.
“I’m afraid you are going to see outbreaks, we have seen them across the country in the last few weeks and months and we have also seen the immense efforts that local authorities have gone to, local communities have gone to, to get that outbreak under control.
“The most important thing for people to remember is that you have got to get schools back, we will get schools back, but also we have got to stick to our discipline – so in schools they have some very well thought through plans for how to manage it.”
