Schools will be last to close if second wave strikes, Johnson vows

Schools will be the last to shut in the event of a second wave of Covid-19, Boris Johnson has told officials as it emerged there is “little evidence” of virus transmission in them. Ensuring that all children return to school next month is now the "country's top priority", the prime minister said, because of the greater risk to them from the shutdown than coronavirus. He stressed the urgency of getting all children in England back into class next month and after telling officials that schools will be the last to close if a nationwide lockdown is reimposed. The coronavirus pandemic resulted in schools closing on March 20, ahead of many businesses. They will have been closed for more than five months by the start of the new academic year next month. Mr Johnson is planning to visit a school on Monday to see first-hand how schools are preparing for all children to return and the "Covid-secure" measures they have in place. The remarks came after unions suggested they could tell heads to keep schools shut if they did not consider them to be safe for teachers and students from the threat of coronavirus. Last week Anne Longfield, the Children's Commissioner, told ministers that pubs and shops should be shut to reopen schools if a trade-off needs to be made because of a rise in coronavirus infections. In meetings last week, according to Downing Street, the PM "stressed that the harm done to children’s education prospects by not attending school as well as to their mental health is far more damaging than the low risk posed" by the virus. He told officials that there can be “no excuses” for children not returning to school this September and tasked ministers and government departments to continue working around the clock to ensure all children are able to smoothly return next month.