‘Schools could be forced to close’ if tier 3 doesn’t help infection rates drop

Matt Hancock has refused to rule out introducing a fourth tier of coronavirus restrictions after a scientist warned more measures including school closures might be necessary. 

Amid speculation the Government is gearing up to add an further, harsher tier of measures to the existing three-tiered system, the Health Secretary said he was ‘ruling nothing out’.

It was reported over the weekend that the fourth tier could include the closure of restaurants and non-essential shops. 

But the architect of the March lockdown, Professor Neil Ferguson, has said the Government may have to go even further and close schools to older pupils, if the current restrictions fail to have an impact. 

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The Government has previously said closing schools again would be a last resort and other areas of society may have to be sacrificed in order to ensure they remain open. 

But Mr Ferguson, whose modelling led to the original nationwide lockdown in March, said if restrictions on household mixing don’t work, ministers would be left with little option but to look again at asking pupils to learn from home.

He told BBC Radio 4: ‘That (banning households mixing) should have a significant effect but as yet we have been unable to see it definitively.

‘If we go beyond that there is a limit to what we can do in terms of reducing contacts, short of starting to target, for instance, the older years in schools and sixth form colleges where we know older teenagers are able to transmit as adults.

‘Of course nobody wants to start moving to virtual education and closing schools even partially. The challenge may be that we are not able to get on top of the transmission otherwise.’

Over the weekend, iNews reported ministers were considering announcing a fourth tier of restrictions in mid-November, once they’d had time to judge whether the current system has been effective. 

Asked on BBC Breakfast this morning whether a fourth tier was imminent, Mr Hancock said: ‘We’ve always said all along that we take nothing off the table. Having said that, we have seen the rise in the number of cases has slowed a bit.

‘The problem is it’s still going up, and while it’s still going up we’ve got to act to get it under control.

‘We rule nothing out but at the moment the three-tier system is what we’re working to and it’s effective in slowing the growth of this virus but it hasn’t brought this curve to a halt.’

Schools have been affected by Wales’ firebreak lockdown which came into effect on Friday. 

Although all were shut for half term this week any way, only primary schools and pupils in years seven and eight will be allowed to return next Monday. Other students are being told to learn from home until the following week. 

Similarly in Northern Ireland, two weeks of school closures started on October 19, giving pupils an extra week off in addition to half term. This is set to be reviewed on November 2. 

None of the levels of Scotland’s new five tier system announced last week includes school closures, with children still able to go in even in the harshest level four areas. 

It comes as new research showed almost twice the proportion of private school students were receiving the equivalent of full school days of teaching during lockdown than state school students.

The London School of Economics research suggested nearly three quarters (74%) of private school pupils were benefitting from full days of teaching during lockdown, compared with just 38% of pupils from state schools.

Private school pupils were also five times more likely than state school pupils to have had at least four online lessons a day.

Roberta, 16, from Harris Westminster Sixth Form told the Panorama programme: ‘During those six months it was just no education at all. I didn’t really get any support from my old school regarding my education. It’s been quite … a little bit stressful so far.

‘I always had a dream of going to A levels prepared, focused and ready. That break of six months did so much damage.

‘I think coming into this school, I didn’t realise the disparity would be this big in the classroom. There are people that don’t know anything and people that know almost the whole content.’

The Department for Education reportedly told Panorama it is giving every school more money, with £58 million already provided to help schools with the extra costs of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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