Schools in UK can't reopen all at once in case of second peak, Dominic Raab says

Reopening all schools in the UK at once would lead to a "very real risk" of the coronavirus infection rate rising and could cause a second peak, the Foreign Secretary has said.

Dominic Raab said that the Government has asked advisory group Sage to consider the different options available in reopening schools and said ministers will be guided by scientific advice.

He told the Downing Street press conference: “The crucial bit for us is the five tests and the risk of a second spike in relation to any new changes that we would make and that must of course included schools,” he said.

“We have asked Sage to look at different options, I don’t think it’s binary.

“At least to date the evidence has been that we wouldn’t be able to open up all schools without a very real risk that the R rate – the transmission rate – would rise at such a level that we would risk a second spike.

“We have asked Sage for the options on this and we will, as ever, continue to be guided by the scientific advice we get.”

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab
PA

Mr Raab's comments were supported by Education Secretary Gavin Williamson in parliament, who said the Government would reopen schools "at the right time".

He told fellow MPs that the UK would take "a phased approach" to getting children back to school.

Mr Williamson added: "We will always aim to give schools, parents and, of course, critically importantly, children the maximum notice in terms of when this is going to happen."

But Labour's Shadow Education Secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey challenged Mr Williamson over school reopenings, saying parents were "anxious" about the risk of infection.

Ms Long-Bailey said: “Constant speculation on when schools will reopen and whether it is safe to do so is leaving many parents, pupils and staff anxious,” in her first turn at the despatch box in her new position.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson 
AFP via Getty Images

The Conservative chairman of the Education Select Committee Robert Halfon said the Government should offer to help students catch up with missed classes and provide mentoring.

Mr Williamson welcomed the idea and said that his department is "working at very closely" helping all children catch up on missed education.

The ministers' comments come after it was reported primary schools could reopen as soon as June 1 as part of Boris Johnson's coronavirus lockdown exit strategy.

Based on the current infection rate, the Prime Minister is hoping to put teachers on three weeks' notice to reopen primary schools to all pupils by June 1, Whitehall sources told the Sunday Telegraph.

The Prime Minister is set to unveil the Government’s “roadmap” to get Britain back to work this week.

Mr Raab's comments after the coronavirus-linked death toll in the UK rose by 693 on Monday.

Commenting on the figures, the Foreign Secretary said that that despite "evidence of a flattening of this virus", the coronavirus situation in the UK continues to be serious.

Coronavirus-linked deaths in care homes continue to rise - with nearly 6,000 up to April 24, according to the Office for National Statistics - despite falling hospital admissions for the virus.

The UK "needs to get to grips" with the outbreak in care homes, deputy chief scientific officer Angela Mclean told the press conference.

Meanwhile the Government fell short of its target of 100,000 tests a day for the third day running, with slightly fewer than 85,000 tests completed on Monday.

Deputy Chief Scientific Officer Angela Mclean (PA )
PA

The UK has been criticised for a slow rate of testing compared with other countries, including Germany.

But Mr Raab dismissed international comparisons at this stage.

He told the press conference: "All I would just say is first of all 29,427 lives lost is a massive tragedy, something in this country, on this scale, in this way, we’ve never seen before.

“In terms of the comparison you’re suggesting… I don’t think we’ll get a real verdict on how well countries have done until the pandemic is over and particularly until we’ve got comprehensive international data on all cause of mortality.”

A coronavirus testing worker 
Getty Images

The Government has set five conditions that it says have to be met before it will lift the lockdown.

These are: ensuring the NHS has enough room for new coronavirus patients, achieving a "sustained and consistent" drop in deaths, keeping a "manageable" level of infections, being able to supply enough protective equipment and avoiding a second peak of cases.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in