UK Set To End Covid Isolation For Schoolchildren

The UK is set to end isolation for schoolchildren who have come in contact with Covid cases as Health Secretary Sajid Javid said he would seek “fresh advice” on restrictions.

ON any given day, almost 250,000 British schoolchildren are missing from school amid fears they could be Covid positive because they have come in contact with someone confirmed to have the virus.

That is set to end, according to British media reports.

Writing for The Telegraph, David Blunkett, the former Labour education secretary, said that if thousands of fans and overseas FIFA officials could attend football matches in Wembley, children should be back in school.

“You don’t have to be over-optimistic to understand that because one student in a particular group has tested positive, that you don’t have to send everyone else home. Continuing to test, as we are currently doing for the FIFA top brass, can ensure that anyone who shows signs of having Covid-19 can be isolated quickly and easily,” he wrote.

“To put it at its bluntest, we haven’t expected everyone who has attended the England v Germany match at Wembley on Tuesday to isolate because one or two individuals might test positive,” he added.

Speaking in parliament on June 28 for the first time as health secretary, Sajid Javid said he hoped to scrap the requirement for children to be isolated as soon as possible as it is “something that none of us want to see”.

“The impact that it’s having in terms of their education, mental health and in so many other detrimental ways. And that is exactly why I’ve asked for fresh advice on this. I want to see if there’s anything more that we can do, any more flexibilities,” he added.

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