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Dr Susan Hopkins, deputy director of the national infection service at Public Health England (PHE), told BBC Breakfast this morning that it could take 12 to 14 days for infections to come down after the introduction of lockdown restrictions. She said:
I’m hopeful that because London went into the restrictions on 18 of December, that we are starting to see a flattening in London.
It’s still rising in other parts of the country, and I would expect that if people really take heed and reduce their contacts that we will start seeing a reduction in cases in about 10 days’ time.
I think it will really depends on the epidemiology of the virus… we will have to look at it by year, age group by age group, as happened the first time round, and the final decisions will lay with government over when they want to bring the students back.
We can’t rule it out, but they will be the first back to school, it will be the first thing to open, that would be our advice.
This morning Robert Halfon, the Conservative MP who chairs the Commons education committee, said teachers should be given priority for getting the coronavirus vaccine, like health and social care workers. He told Times Radio:
My view is that children – educating our children – is the most important thing we can do. We are damaging their life chances every day that they are not in school, we’re increasing mental health worries, we know there are safeguarding hazards for children being at home, so the priority must be to get our kids back into school. Surely teachers and support staff must be made a priority alongside NHS workers for vaccination.
I think it’s right that we focus very much on the nine categories for the most vulnerable people that the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has set us. Some teachers will be vaccinated because [they’re in a vulnerable category for other reasons] … I’ve been very clear that actually the most vulnerable should be the absolute priority.
