UK Schools Reopening In September Matter Of National Priority - Prime Minister

LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th August, 2020) UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a Sunday newspaper article that the reopening of schools in September after the COVID-19 pandemic that forced the government to close the academic year in March is now a national priority.

"The education of our children is crucial for their welfare, their health and for their future. That is why it is a national priority to get all pupils back into school in September," Johnson wrote in an article for the Mail on Sunday.

The prime minister also said that keeping children without in-person education for a time longer than necessary is "socially intolerable, economically unsustainable and morally indefensible".

"This pandemic isn't over, and the last thing any of us can afford to do is become complacent. But now that we know enough to reopen schools to all pupils safely, we have a moral duty to do so," he stressed.

According to Johnson, scientists now have more knowledge about the way the novel coronavirus spreads and how it can be kept under control, besides some studies have shown children face lower risks of getting infected compared to adults.

"The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies has advised that the risk to children themselves of becoming severely ill from coronavirus is low," the prime minister said.

The latest government's figures released by the Department of Health and Social Care show a total of 309,763 people have tested positive for the coronavirus across the UK, where 46,566 have died from COVID-19 since the outbreak began.