Freedom day will be ‘exact opposite’, parents of long Covid sufferers warn MPs

Easing coronavirus restrictions on 19 July will ‘sentence thousands of children to a stolen childhood’, reports Chiara Giordano

Parents of children with long Covid have warned freedom day will likely be the ‘exact opposite’ for thousands of people (PA)

Freedom day is likely to be the “exact opposite” for thousands of people, the parents of children with long Covid have warned MPs.

Boris Johnson, the prime minister, on Monday announced almost all social distancing restrictions will be scrapped on 19 July on what has been dubbed “freedom day”.

But members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Coronavirus heard how long Covid sufferers and those classed as clinically extremely vulnerable are anxious about the move.

Sophie Charles, whose 13-year-old son contracted Covid in October and is still suffering from “debilitating” symptoms, warned easing restrictions would “sentence thousands of children to a stolen childhood”.

Asked what she would say to the prime minister, Ms Charles told MPs: “I would say so-called ‘freedom day’ is likely to be the exact opposite for many thousands of people.

“I would say you will be sentencing thousands of children without the freedom to choose for themselves to long-term confinement, to holes in their education, to social isolation, to physical inactivity and essentially to a stolen childhood.

“I would ask him to look my son in the eye and tell him the decisions being made are with the best interests of those children at heart using the best scientific evidence and not based on best-case scenarios or self-interest ideology, political expediency or convenience.”

The mother, from Wycombe, said many long Covid sufferers “feel forgotten by the system”.

“In terms of making us feel safer there are some pretty simple choices that can protect us,” she said. “The continuation of masks in shops, transport, schools, public spaces, making sure schools are safe.”

Sarah Saul, whose 15-year-old son suffered a range of symptoms for months after contracting coronavirus in December, called for children to be offered the vaccine and for mitigation measures in schools such as reducing class sizes, having masks for all and an emphasis on ventilation.

The mother-of-two, from Newcastle, who is part of the advocacy group Safe Ed for All, added: “What the government can do is to stop the rhetoric that schools are safe.

“How can my 12-year-old and 15-year-old exercise their personal responsibility when they are going to be told very soon probably that masks are no longer allowed in school, when they are going to be told they have to attend school, that there’s no mitigations in place.”

Rachel Winter Jones, who is clinically extremely vulnerable to Covid having been diagnosed with both breast cancer and leukaemia, called for an end to the “confusing” freedom day “rhetoric”.

The mother-of-two, from Stockport, said she would “feel more comfortable” about the country reopening next week if the government “had ambition to get to zero Covid or at least very low infection rates”.

She also called for prevention and mitigation measures such as youngsters being vaccinated to stop the disease “leaking” into families and better ventilation in schools, adding: “Don’t gamble with our children’s lives, please.”

Tim Bowen, president of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), accused the government of “hanging school leaders out to dry” by lifting restrictions next week.

“We believe they are simply washing their hands of the responsibility and the safety of children, families and school staff and, in effect, they’re hanging school leaders out to dry,” he told MPs.

“Expectations from parents and families over what school rules will be from 19 July could well be at odds with what is actually necessary for the situation in their local area – and this is going to leave school leaders in effect as the bad guys, enforcing rules the public do not understand or feel have been abandoned.

“By abdicating any responsibility for making decisions nationally, the government is putting school leaders in the firing line.”

Dr Bill Hanage, an associate professor of epidemiology at Harvard University, told the APPG he believed the spread of Covid-19 would be “slowed a little bit” during the summer holidays because the virus has been driven by transmission in schools – however he warned this was likely to be offset by restrictions lifting on 19 July.

He added: “If you open now, the total number of people infected will be larger. That means the burden on healthcare will be larger. In the US we have taken a different approach.”