Parents should send their children to school on Monday, Boris Johnson has said.
The Prime Minister said children in England should go back to primary schools if they are open.
It comes after calls for schools to remain closed following the Christmas holidays and for children to have remote learning for two weeks.
Mr Johnson told BBC1’s The Andrew Marr Show: “Yes, absolutely they should in areas where schools are open.
“What we are doing, clearly, is grappling with a new variant of coronavirus which is surging particularly in London and the South East.
“And that is why we have had to take exceptional measures.”
He said that he understands the anxieties around the reopening of schools.
Asked if he would take legal action against councils which have decided not to reopen primary schools, the Prime Minister said: “We’ll work very hard with authorities across the country to get our message across that we think schools are safe; that schools are safe, there’s absolutely no doubt about it.
“I understand people’s frustrations, I understand people’s anxieties but there is no doubt in my mind that schools are safe and that education is a priority.
“And if you think about the history of the pandemic, we’ve kept schools going for a long, long time in areas where the pandemic has really been at really high levels.”
Mr Johnson added: “We will keep this under constant review but we will be driven by public health considerations and by the massive importance of education.”
The Prime Minister then said: “We have really fought very hard throughout this pandemic across the country to keep schools open for lots of reasons.
“Schools are safe. It is very, very important to stress that.
“The risk to kids, to young people is really very, very small indeed.
“The risk to staff is very small.
“I would advise all parents thinking about want to do, look at where your area is, overwhelmingly you’ll be in a part of the country where primary schools tomorrow will be open.”
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