Schools are safe but it is ‘inevitable’ Covid cases will rise, SAGE adviser says 

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Sending children back to schools is ‘absolutely’ safe and people shouldn’t panic if Covid case numbers rise because of it, a SAGE expert claimed today.

Professor Calum Semple, an expert in child health and outbreak medicine at Liverpool University, pointed to studies that have shown primary school pupils are less likely to catch or spread Covid.

He said parents can be ‘very confident’ that their children are not severely affected by Covid. He added teachers faced ‘more of a risk’ from mixing with their colleagues than their children. 

His comments came as millions of primary and secondary students in England today returned to classrooms after two months of home learning.

Professor Semple warned schools reopening and social contacts increasing meant it was ‘inevitable that we will see a rise in cases’. 

But he claimed the real focus should now be on the ‘number of cases going to hospital and needing intensive care’, given that the majority of vulnerable Brits have had their first vaccine dose and should enjoy a high level of protection. 

Previously, a spike in cases always translated into increased pressure on the NHS and deaths. But the jabs have shown to prevent more than 80 per cent of people from falling seriously ill, even after just one shot. 

Most primary schools opened for all pupils this morning, with secondary students heading back in more gradual stages to ensure Covid tests can be carried out.

Face masks are expected to be worn in secondary school classrooms when social distancing is not possible and pupils will be asked to take three Covid tests a week. Primary school pupils – who are less likely to catch the disease – will not have to take Covid tests or wear masks.  

Professor Semple told BBC Breakfast: ‘The subtle question about transmission and teachers, and bringing it home, well the school infection survey is showing that primary school children are half as likely to have had it and probably half as likely to transmit it.

‘Secondary school children (are) slightly less protected because as they become adolescents they effectively have the biology of an adult, but even there, they’re half to a quarter as likely to have had it and transmit it.

‘So the main driver is not the pupil-teacher relationship.

‘When we talk about schools, it is the fact that the school brings adults together, whether that’s teaching staff, the domestic staff, the catering staff, and it’s an opportunity for mixing.’

He said the issue was down to ‘the fact that schools are a place of work’.

Professor Calum Semple said it was ‘inevitable that we will see a rise in cases’ as schools go back, but it was not so important if the reproduction number rose slightly.

He said it was more about ‘the absolute number of cases going to hospital and needing intensive care’.

The advice for teachers ‘is going to be wearing face masks, being really careful in the common room – their colleagues are more of a risk to them than the children’.

He said society needed to learn how to live with the virus, adding: ‘It’s going to be difficult and it is going to mean some social distancing and face mask-wearing, good ventilation until really late summer when we’ve got the vast majority people vaccinated.’ 

School-aged children had been getting home lessons since late December, when England’s third national shutdown was enforced. 

Schools were also forced to close during the first wave of the pandemic last spring but ministers made a concerted effort to keep them open the rest of the year amid concerns about the damage to children’s learning, health and future prospects.

Professor Russell Viner, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and a member of SAGE, said it is not yet clear what harms there will be to children in the longer term.

Asked about the impact of the pandemic on young people, he told Times Radio today: ‘We closed down our children’s lives. 

‘The key issues around meeting friends, development socially, learning to trust, learning to be human, learning all of those things, that’s been lost as well as the loss of actual straight-up learning, and many of those things can’t be done online.

‘I’ve got a 15-year-old, and I can certainly see he has gone backwards over this online learning time.

‘The harms to mental health are very clear. We know that there’s a lot more anxiety and depression and eating disorders around among children and young people.

‘The thing we don’t know is how much of this is essentially a superficial flesh wound that will heal when they’re back at school, and how much of it will be lead to longer-term scarring.

‘We really don’t know that. And the way that the schools and the Government respond will be key to that.’

The return of schools today marks the first significant phase of the Prime Minister’s ultra-cautious ‘roadmap’ out of lockdown unveiled last month.

South London headmistress Alex Hutchinson said she ‘can’t stop smiling’ ahead of the return to school – telling her students last night that she will ‘see you tomorrow’.

Head of Tanbridge House School in Horsham, West Sussex Jules White told the BBC that the return to school brings ‘immense relief tied to a little apprehension’.

Paul Whiteman, from the National Association of Head Teachers, added said students will be supported ‘socially and emotionally, not just academically’ amid concerns over the mental health impact of their period at home.

The Association of School and College Leaders chief, Geoff Barton, has warned that a wave of non-compliance from students over the Government’s face mask rules could create ‘ramifications’ for school insurance policies.

The union – which represents secondary school heads – is writing to parents who object to new masks rules, according to the Telegraph.

Students are being told to wear masks anywhere indoors, including classrooms, where it is impossible for secondary students to keep two metres apart.

Previously, face coverings only had to be worn in hallways.

A survey by the Association of School and College Leaders earlier revealed that half of secondary head teachers have struggled getting permission from parents for testing.

Mr Barton blamed this on ‘misinformation’ about the tests.

It comes as Boris Johnson yesterday batted away concerns around today’s school return – saying the real risk to children was in not going back to class.

The Prime Minister warned that youngsters remaining at home longer than necessary would suffer in the future.

Ahead of millions returning to their classrooms, Mr Johnson was asked about lingering fears over Covid infections.

But he replied: ‘You ask about the risk [of schools returning] – I think the risk is actually in not going back to school tomorrow given all the suffering, all the loss of learning we have seen.’

His comments came as Education Secretary Gavin Williamson proposed changes he likened to the sweeping reforms of the 1940s to help pupils make up for lost time.

Innovations set to be phased in next year include longer school days and shorter holidays.

With children returning to school after two months in lockdown, Mr Johnson said he was ‘very hopeful’ of a resounding success.

He added: ‘I’m massively grateful to parents who have put up with so much throughout the pandemic and teachers who have done an amazing job of keeping going.

‘I do think we are ready, I think people want to go back, they feel it, they feel the need for it.’

Mr Williamson has pledged that today’s resumption of face-to-face teaching for all is part of ‘an irreversible approach’ to reopening.

But the return to classrooms is likely to be significantly slower than expected for some families, as most secondaries take days to set up new practices, before resuming properly next week.