Reopening schools is ‘absolutely’ safe as kids are only half as likely to get or transmit Covid, Sage health expert says
REOPENING schools is “absolutely” safe as children are only half as likely to get or trasmit Covid, a Sage health expert believes.
Classrooms reopen fully today for the first time since January, with new measures in place to protect children and staff.
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Children are returning to school for the first time since January today[/caption] New safety measures have been put in place to protect children and staff[/caption]
Professor Calum Semple, a Sage scientist, insisted it’s safe for schools to go back under the first phase of the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown.
Boris Johnson has hailed today’s return of millions of children to classrooms as a “big step”.
Secondary school pupils and teachers are now asked to wear face coverings in classrooms and areas where it is not possible to socially distance.
Students in England will also be tested for coronavirus three times in the first two weeks of school, then be given two lateral flow tests each week to use at home.
It comes after Education Secretary Gavin Williamson told The Sun on Sunday that the risk of children catching Covid at school “is incredibly low”.
SCHOOLS RETURN
Prof Semple, from the University of Liverpool, told BBC Breakfast: “The subtle question about transmission and teachers, and bringing it home – the school infection survey is showing that primary school children are half as likely to have had it and probably half as likely to transmit it.
“Secondary school children (are) slightly less protected because as they become adolescents they effectively have the biology of an adult, but even there, they’re half to a quarter as likely to have had it and transmit it.
“So the main driver is not the pupil-teacher relationship.”
He added: “When we talk about schools, it is the fact that the school brings adults together, whether that’s teaching staff, the domestic staff, the catering staff, and it’s an opportunity for mixing.”
Education Secretary Gavin William is overseeing kids’ return to schools[/caption] Experts have warned about the impacts further time out of school could have on children’s and young people’s development[/caption] Children will be swabbed for Covid with rapid lateral flow tests[/caption]He admitted it was “inevitable that we will see a rise in cases” as schools go back.
Experts believe the R rate – which shows the number of people an infected person will pass Covid onto – is likely to rise when kids are back in class.
But the “absolute number of cases going to hospital and needing intensive care” was a more pressing concern, Prof Semple said.
Teachers should wear face masks and be “really careful” in common room as “their colleagues are more of a risk to them than the children”, Prof Semple added.
And he warned said society must learn to live with Covid, with social distancing, face mask-wearing and good ventilation in place until late summer when the majority of people are vaccinated.
‘INCREDIBLY ROW’ RISK
It comes after Mr Williamson, writing yesterday for The Sun on Sunday, vowed schools would be “the enthusiastic, lively and caring places we have missed for so long”.
He said: “As our medical and scientific advisers have said, the risk to children from going to school and catching Covid is incredibly low.
“But experts have warned about the impacts further time out of school could have on children’s and young people’s development, as well as on their health and wellbeing.”
Facemasks would be a “temporary measure” that would be reviewed in April, he said.
Government guidance states that “no pupil should be denied education on the grounds that they are not wearing a face covering”.
No requirement is in place for primary schools, although teachers have been advised to wear masks “where possible”.
Testing would play a “a big part” in helping reduce transmission of the virus, as Mr Williamson urged parents to allow children to take tests when they are offered.
Last week, 32million tests were shipped out to families across the country.
The school infection survey is showing that primary school children are half as likely to have had it and probably half as likely to transmit it
Prof Semple, member of Sage
But a leading children’s doctor warned schools can only open safely if everything else “stays locked down” for at least three weeks.
Professor Russell Viner, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, told Times Radio: “I think the key thing is that children themselves, and parents, don’t think ‘The schools are open, we can relax, we can mix outside of school’ – in a sense, come out of lockdown around the school opening.”
Public Health England has reassured staff, parents and that current evidence shows transmission of Covid in schools “remains low”.
Meanwhile, a health chief said schools should remain open even if the R rate rises – because the Covid vaccine is cutting the link between surging cases and deaths.
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Public Health England’s Dr Susan Hopkins, a leading Government adviser, acknowledged cases could spike – but said schools shouldn’t close again.
“We will watch and wait and look carefully,” she told the BBC’s Andrew Marr.
“That’s why we’re doing so much testing.It’s to try and find those cases that may have asymptomatic infections, and so reduce the risk of transmissions in and around the school environment and keep the R rate at the lowest rate possible.”
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson insists the risk to children of catching Covid is ‘incredibly low’[/caption]