TESTING TIMES
Will coronavirus stop GCSEs and A-Levels going ahead as schools go into lockdown?
CORONAVIRUS could throw schools into chaos by locking down classrooms for months and potentially derailing GCSE and A-level exams.
Pupils could be forced to sit their tests in the summer holidays if the deadly bug holds the nation hostage.
Read our coronavirus live blog for all the latest news and updates
4
Boris Johnson launched his war against covid-19 today and told families that temporary school closures and cancelling big events are at the heart of his 12-week battle-plan.
Speaking outside No10 , the PM said: "Keeping the country safe is the government’s overriding priority, and our plan means we are committed to doing everything possible, based on the advice of our world-leading scientific experts, to prepare for all eventualities."
However, he added that the government wanted to avoid locking down classrooms.
On school closures we don’t think schools should be closing in principle if possible they should stay open.
Boris Johnson
Mr Johnson told the press conference: “On school closures we don’t think schools should be closing in principle if possible they should stay open but school authorities should follow the advice of Public Health England."
Britain’s top doctor Professor Chris Witty added that “there is no evidence that children are particularly badly affected by the virus, in fact quite the other way.”
Professor Whitty said: “Evidence from China at least would imply children have much less of this disease, either because they get it less often or the version they get is a lot milder.”
He explained that closing schools because covid-19 is dangerous to children “would not be a sensible reason in this case”.
BORIS' BATTLEPLAN
The government plans to implement "delay and mitigate" phases to try and stop the deadly bug spreading - if it can't be contained.
A No10 source said: “Action that would be considered could include population distancing strategies such as school closures, encouraging greater home working, reducing the number of large scale gatherings to slow the spread of the disease throughout the population, whilst ensuring the country’s ability to run as normally as possible.”
Families are now bracing themselves for an uncertain future as the end of the school year looms.
But pupils’ grades are likely to be adjusted if they miss out on crucial lesson time due to illness or school closures.
The PM has promised to plunge as much cash as possible into the fight against coronavirus – but told Brits that “all our lives will change”.
4
Officials are still working on the event that the virus can still be contained.
But the urgent plans are for what might happen if it can't be.
There will be a focus on helping vulnerable groups as medical experts think this is best way to reduce the number of deaths.
Local authorities will have advice on how deal with increased deaths if the outbreak reaches a crisis point.
NHS services could be reduced as part of the doomsday battle plan, it was revealed today.
Non urgent operations may have to be scrapped to take care of people with the virus.
TESTING TIMES
Professor Whitty, the country's chief medical officer, has warned that schools could close for “more than two months”.
Eleven schools so far have shut down over confirmed infections.
In many cases, classrooms were put on red alert when students returned from skiing trips in Northern Italy – the European epicentre for the virus - flu-like symptoms.
While Burbage Primary School in Buxton, Derbyshire, sent out a WhatsApp alert warning parents to stay away last week after a parent returned infected with coronavirus from a Tenerife hotel where 160 Brits are quarantined.
Four more UK coronavirus cases were confirmed last night, including the first under-18, bringing the total to 39.
A pupil at Churston Ferrers Grammar School in Torbay, Devon, became the nation's first confirmed child case. It is believed they and a relative were infected on a visit to northern Italy.
MOST READ IN NEWS
Professor Whitty has refused to rule out a mass closure of Britain’s schools.
He said: “Everybody knows that the kinds of things you consider are reducing mass gatherings, school closures which may or may not be appropriate for this type of virus.
“We don't know yet, we need to find that out.”
He added: “There are several things – to be clear, we're not saying we will do them, we have to look at them and say, 'How likely are they to work and what's our evidence base here? What's the social cost of this?'
4
4
Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty and Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance on Coronavirus worst case scenarios
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368 . You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.
Topics