Scrapping ‘bubbles’ and isolation won’t stop Covid – it will merely result in more children being infected

Editorial: Sajid Javid is growing worryingly zealous in his drive to end lockdown on 19 July, and with it the bubble-and-isolate protocols in schools – the virus may have other ideas

There is a problem in Britain’s schools: too many children are having to be sent home to self-isolate because they are in a large bubble and one pupil has come into contact with someone who has Covid. Anecdotal evidence suggests that such forced absences are more widespread than they were even in previous waves of the pandemic.

The obvious effects of unexpected bubble closures are on the running of the school and the education of the children. Even planning to catch up on lost lessons becomes forbiddingly complex. Children being at home also places an additional burden on parents, causing special problems for those who have to leave home to work. It all adds to the stress and distress experienced by families – and it is becoming chaotic.

Hence the hyperactive Sajid Javid asking for action from the Department of Education, though that isn’t actually his fiefdom. Mr Javid is growing worryingly zealous in his drive to end lockdown on 19 July, and ending the bubble-and-isolate protocols in schools is all part of his vaulting ambition to make his mark in history and be the man who, to coin a phrase, “gets Covid done”. The virus may have other ideas.

The problem in schools is neither the bubbles nor the isolation of children at risk. It is the increasing prevalence of the Delta variant, both in schools and in wider society. Just scrapping the bubbles and isolation will not stop the virus from circulating. Indeed, it will merely result in more children being infected with Covid.

Most, for the moment, will experience few effects; but some will become ill, and many will spread the disease to older, more vulnerable family members. Of course, vaccination provides partial protection from the worst effects of the virus, and probably reduces transmission – but the link with hospitalisation, long Covid and death has only been weakened, not broken.

The way to minimise Covid in schools is to do so in wider society, and to put practical, protective measures in place in schools. For the time being, given the trend in cases, the existing rules will have to remain – as ministers concede – until the end of term in a few weeks.

After that, the schools will need a plan, and the country has to get at least a proportion of its teenagers and younger children vaccinated – with their safety being paramount. For herd immunity to be effected requires something of the order of 80 to 90 per cent of a given community to be inoculated.

That is not feasible in Britain unless a number of children do receive the jab, and minsters need to push the case for vaccination with teachers, school staff and parents. Many responsible parents, weighting the risks, will be happy for their children to receive a dose of the vaccine.

All parents should be aware of the possibility that a new variant of the coronavirus will emerge that is more dangerous to the young, and that the current vaccines may still offer some defence in that eventuality. But allowing their child to be vaccinated should be their choice.

Schools will need additional measures, even if vaccination levels rise to adequate levels. They need to know, now, whether staggered start times will be in operation next year; whether and when there will be catch-up lessons; if there will be conventional exams; and how they will be expected to administer mass testing.

It may be the case that some of the increase in Covid among schoolchildren is due to parents being more complacent about testing as the relaxations ease, and a false sense that the pandemic is ending. If the children are not being tested at home until it is too late, then they must be tested in schools – but that will take time, organisation, and resources that the schools lack.

It is wrong, indeed immoral, to leave the nation’s children to achieve herd immunity through infection. It is also impractical, given that it would probably take too long, and would undermine the effort to vaccinate and protect society as a whole.

No one wants to see schools becoming the last refuge of the coronavirus, its safe place to circulate and mutate. Schools need to be made safe, and then kept safe.