Boris Johnson has refused to shut schools across the country as the coronavirus pandemic continues to take hold despite public clamouring for him to do so.
A number of other countries such as Ireland, Austria, Turkey and Norway have taken drastic measures to stymie the spread of the disease, including closing schools, colleges and childcare facilities.
But the Prime Minister and his chief medical advisors decided to hold back these responses in an effort to delay the peak of the ‘worst public health crisis for a generation’, and instead recommended only stopping school trips abroad.
He outlined his plan in a press conference on Thursday, advising people to avoid cruises, school trips, and to stay at home for seven days if they notice any mild symptoms.
One of his advisors also said it was unreasonable to expect children to remain isolated for up to 16 weeks.
Boris Johnson has refused to close schools amid the coronavirus pandemic, but advised schools not to take trips abroad
Chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty said children appear to have a milder response to the virus compared to adults
Mr Johnson said: ‘We advise all those over 70 with serious medical conditions against going on cruises and we advise against international school trips.
‘At some point in the next few weeks we are likely to go further.’
Despite the warnings, Mr Johnson said the UK would not close schools yet.
He said: ‘The scientific advice is that this could do more harm than good.
‘But we are keeping this under review and this could change as the disease spreads. Schools should only close if they are specifically advised to do so.’
Chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty later reiterated the Prime Minister’s point, saying: ‘Fortunately, and this is one silver lining in this particular infection, it looks as if children are affected much less than adults based on the early data we have at the moment.
‘Our view is not that they don’t get infected, we think they probably do, but they seem to have a much milder disease in general.’
Chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance also said schools would have to be closed for up to 16 weeks and it was not realistic to expect children to be cooped up that long.
Chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said you cannot expect children not to come into contact with each other for 16 weeks
He said: ‘It is true that there is some effect in closing schools but that effect is minimal and actually you would have to do it for 13 to 16 weeks or longer.
‘You do not have to be a very advanced mathematician to work out that the chances of keeping children not speaking to each other or playing with each other are zero.’
Earlier, more than 350,000 people signed a petition urging the government to take action and close schools.
Concerned parents called on the Prime Minister to send pupils home to prevent the spread – with 100,000 signatures being the minimum required to secure a debate on the matter in Parliament.
A petition, started by Sami Attout, urged Boris Johnson to shut down schools and colleges ‘in the coming weeks of as soon as possible’, to prevent the spread of Covid19
A spokesman for the Department for Education insisted institutions would remain open, unless advised otherwise.
This morning, Irish PM Leo Varadkar declared that schools, colleges and childcare facilities are to close for two weeks.
Despite the PM’s laid-back approach, today Manchester Metropolitan University announced an end to face-to-face teaching, while Christ’s Hospital school in Horsham, West Sussex, sent hundreds of pupils home.
The petition, started by Sami Attout, urges Boris Johnson to shut down schools and colleges ‘in the coming weeks of as soon as possible’, to prevent the spread of Covid19.
The coronavirus does not seem to be infecting children anywhere near as much as it affects adults, for reasons that scientists don’t yet understand.
Public Health England wrote in a blog: ‘Closing schools can be disruptive for both children and parents so this is something we would need to consider very carefully.’
If schools were to be closed, pupils may be set work to do at home or given online lessons through video tutorials or special school networks.
Children in other countries such as Italy are still taking part in hours of school lessons even from isolation.
It was reported last night that teachers had been told to prepare home learning packs for students in readiness for a potential month-long enforced break.
It was also rumoured that nationwide coronavirus closures could come into effect on March 20 – weeks before the traditional Easter break.
Another proposal on the table was to shorten the Easter break by a week and scrapping the May half-term.
The Government’s coronavirus action plan admits that it could close schools and universities if the outbreak in the UK worsens.
But officials have so far been reluctant to admit they will do this and appear to be very against the idea.
A Government spokesperson said today: ‘As the Chief Medical Officer has said, the impact of closing schools on both children’s education and on the workforce will be substantial, but the benefit to public health may not be.
‘Decisions on future advice to schools will be taken based on the latest and best scientific evidence, which at this stage suggests children are a lower risk group.
‘The advice from Public Health England continues to be for schools to remain open, unless advised otherwise.’
The hashtag, ‘#closetheschools’ is trending on social media today as people across both the UK and America raise their fears about the spread of the virus in school buildings.
The petition states: ‘We would like the government to at least consider closing schools/colleges down in the coming weeks or as soon as possible, in addition to taking necessary actions to prevent further spread.
‘We would like the Government or Parliament to enforce this action due to the growing fear among parents and students that attend school.
‘The ability to focus or concentrate is affected in addition to the growing fears of the Coronavirus.
Britons had been anxiously waiting to find out if their schools and workplaces have closed
‘In our view, the government and health officials around the world are more “reactive” rather than “proactive”.
‘This will result in more spread as time is given for the virus to do so. We hope to come to an agreement as soon as possible in a timely manner.’
Speaking on Good Morning today, Dr Hilary Jones said plans to move to the delay phase would help protect the NHS and stop it from becoming overwhelmed.
He also added that children are at a lower risk of contracting the illness.
‘The consensus is that this will peak at the end of April and the beginning of May, we know who is most vulnerable and we need to cocoon these people. If people are sensible now they will reduce the risk for everyone.’
In Denmark, all schools have been closed and Dr Hilary added many places were ‘waking up’ to the scale of the illness.
It announced a number of measures on Tuesday as the first case of coronavirus was confirmed in Darlington, bringing the total number of cases in the North East to seven.
Pictured: Rory Stewart calls for tougher action to fight coronavirus on yesterday’s Good Morning Britain
The petition comes days after London mayoral candidate Rory Stewart demanded schools close to protect Britons.
The ex-cabinet minister said the government should not shy away from taking an economic hit if it means safeguarding the population.
He said the ‘short-term economic damage’ which would be caused by such measures would be ‘definitely worth doing if you can stave off the bigger spread’ of the virus in the UK.
The former Tory, who is running as an independent called for all medium and large sized gatherings to be banned and accused Boris Johnson of not being aggressive enough in fighting Covid-19.