Blanket reopening of schools next month would be ‘far too risky’, says Dominic Raab as he warns over second wave of the coronavirus
- Foreign secretary Dominic Raab said reopening schools would risk another peak
- He outlined the government’s phased approach to opening UK schools again
- It came after Nicola Sturgeon said Scottish schools wouldn’t open anytime soon
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
A blanket reopening of schools next month would risk a deadly second wave of coronavirus, Dominic Raab warned last night.
The Foreign Secretary dashed hopes of a widespread return after half-term, warning that it was too soon to even consider the move.
Speaking at the daily No 10 press briefing, Mr Raab said evidence from scientists indicated that opening all schools would lead to a ‘very real risk’ of a steep rise in transmission rates.
Pictured: foreign secretary Dominic Raab arriving at last night’s press conference where he warned the UK against opening schools
The warning came just hours after Nicola Sturgeon said schools north of the border were unlikely to reopen in the foreseeable future.
Scotland’s First Minister said reopening now would ‘most likely’ see hospitals north of the border ‘overwhelmed’ with coronavirus cases within two months. She warned it ‘might not be possible at all ahead of the summer holidays’. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson told MPs there would be a ‘phased approach’ to reopening.
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said schools north of the border were unlikely to reopen in the foreseeable future
He said: ‘We will take a phased approach in terms of reopening schools and we will always aim to give schools, parents and, of course, critically importantly, children the maximum notice in terms of when this is going to happen.’
Mr Raab said that it would not be a ‘binary’ situation where schools were either fully open or fully shut.
He added: ‘At least to date the evidence has been that we wouldn’t be able to open up all schools without a very real risk that the R rate – the transmission rate – would rise at such a level that we would risk a second spike.’
He said he had asked the Government’s scientific advisers for the best options and would be guided by them.
Sources last night said ministers were still hopeful that some children could go back to school after half-term at the beginning of next month. However, they have ruled out making any return compulsory.
Sources told the Mail parents would not face fines if they refuse to send children back.
Pictured: Key-workers’ children social distancing at Drummond Community High School , Edinburgh
Any return is likely to involve only some year groups going back to school at first to allow for greater social distancing in the classroom. Under normal circumstances schooling is compulsory, with parents facing £60 fines if they fail to send their children to school without good reason. Fines double to £120 if not paid within 21 days, and parents can face prosecution if they refuse to pay after 28 days.
Teaching unions have asked for guarantees that fines will be suspended during any back-to-school transition, when many children will still be told to stay at home.
Teachers yesterday warned they ‘must not be used as an experiment’, amid fears that resistance to returning to classrooms could render the reopening of schools impossible.
Yesterday, ten teaching unions in the UK and Republic of Ireland warned ‘of a very real risk of creating a spike in the transmission of the virus by a premature opening of schools’.
In a letter to education ministers, they urged ‘significant caution in any consideration of reopening schools’.
The unions also say that without established ‘test trace and isolate’ capacity, schools restarting would ‘be catastrophic to the rate of infection’.