Boris Johnson Pushes To Reopen Schools As Covid Cases Fall

Boris Johnson Pushes To Reopen Schools As Covid Cases Continue To Fall.

BORIS JOHNSON is pushing for schools to be reopened by March 8 after Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty told him that the current wave of the coronavirus outbreak peaked last week, according to reports.

The PM has now ordered preparations for the return of schools to be ramped up and is also expected to introduce a raft of new measures to help children catch up with their lost work. The fresh optimism comes amid the continuing success of Britain’s vaccine drive, the government has plans for the over-65s to be invited to book appointments for jabs from next week.

Around three million letters will be sent out to people aged between 65 and 69, meaning that some areas may be able to offer vaccines to those below the age of 70 before February 15, meaning the UK is well on track to meet, or even surpass, its target of offering jabs to all over-70s by mid-February.

In another welcome boost for the country, Chris Whitty told the PM that the virus has passed its peak and has been on the decline for a week. New data shows the virus has fallen to pre-New Year levels in every region of England and on Monday the UK recorded the fewest daily coronavirus deaths since December, with officials posting just 406 more victims as the second wave continues on it’s decline.

Department of Health figures also show that cases are continuing to fall, hitting a seven-week low of 18,607 positive tests.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) found that outbreaks in schools “have not been a prominent feature” of the pandemic. Its latest update, on 26 January, said transmission in schools correlates with the levels of community transmission but “has accounted for a minority of all COVID-19 cases”.

The majority of children do not develop symptoms when infected with the virus, or they develop a very mild form of the disease. “No evidence has been found to suggest that children or educational settings are the primary drivers of SARS-CoV-2 virus transmission,” the ECDC added.

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