Coronavirus news: Education secretary insists ‘no child should be out of school’ after government issues long-awaited guidance on pupils returning to classroom
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Your support makes all the difference.Schools have been given new guidance that says teachers should socially distance from one another and older pupils from September. Officials have also set out how mobile testing units will respond to outbreaks at schools.
Meanwhile, a coronavirus outbreak that forced the reimposition of lockdown conditions in Leicester has no obvious source, Public Health England has said. The embattled body suggested the spike could have been driven by community transmission.
In the US, officials recorded the country’s biggest-yet daily rise in Covid-19 infections with about 50,700 new cases on Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University. Donald Trump said yesterday he hoped the virus would “sort of, just disappear”.
Return of the No10 coronavirus press conference
Education secretary Gavin Williamson is due to hold a press conference at Downing Street today - the first time one has been held since daily briefings were scrapped last week.
"Getting our children back to school is a vital part of our recovery from the Covid outbreak," says Gavin Williamson.
Schools should minimise contact by keeping year or class groups separate, he says, in a repeat of his statement to the House of Commons. "No child should be out of school unless it has been agreed."
Here's a rundown of the guidance issued earlier today:
Gavin Williamson is asked about the difficulties of schools returning given recent increase in infections in Leicester, particularly among teenagers.
He says: "What happened in Leicester was not about schools returning."
Deputy chief medical officer Jenny Harries says that schools are a "controlled environment".
She adds: "In many ways we should be more concerned about what teenagers are doing outside school."
"There is not going to be a watered-down curriculum," says Gavin Williamson.
"We are not going to be in a situation where we see vital subjects cut out of children's education.
"Schools will be held accountable with Ofsted inspections."
Asked whether they had wrongly prioritised pubs ahead of schools, he says: "We were dealing with a global pandemic... we were not in a position to say every child would be back in school before the summer."
Gavin Williamson says they will take action to make sure schools open in September if necessary, when asked about the reluctance of some local authorities and staff unions.
Mr Williamson is asked if he will rule out a national school lockdown. He says that by taking action locally they can avoid a national shutdown again.
Asked if parents, and BAME parents in particular, will really be fined if they don't send their children to school, he says there will be some children due to their specific health conditions who won't be able to return.
Jennry Harries says: "For most young children the risk is very similar, for ethnicity. As we go forward we are looking at those children who may have specific conditions."
Williamson says that schools will have to use "common sense" about fines: "We would expect a sensible approach. We have got to be clear that being in school has enormous benefit to every school, and we do have a compulsory education system."
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