Scientists at Public Health England (PHE) have warned secondary school pupils are as likely to transmit coronavirus as easily as adults, it has been reported.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has said PHE findings due to be published later this year showed there was little risk from the Government’s plans to reopen schools in England in September.
However The Times reported that while there was little risk from primary schools, researchers who had worked on the study were unhappy with the way their findings, which have not yet been fully analysed, had been used by ministers.
The report is likely to heighten concerns among teaching unions concerned about whether schools can safely return in the way ministers want.
A PHE spokesperson said: “PHE analysis of recorded cases and outbreaks in educational settings in England is currently undergoing pre-publication verification and review, and will be published in due course.
“It appears to show that SARS-CoV-2 infections and outbreaks were uncommon in educational settings during the first month after the easing of national lockdown in England.
“Additionally, a nationwide surveillance programme examining antibody prevalence in schoolchildren (sKIDs), is being analysed and should be published in the coming weeks. These publications combined will give the most complete picture of the landscape of Covid-19 in educational settings that we have seen to date.”
