LONDON – Children in England’s secondary schools will be urged to wear face coverings when they return from Christmas holidays next week, to cope with rising cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, the Education Secretary said on Sunday. , Nadhim Zahawi.
“We want to maximize the number of children in schools for as long as possible,” he said in an article published in the Sunday Telegraph.
“One of the additional and temporary measures that will help to achieve this in the face of the increase in Ómicron is to recommend that face coverings be worn in high school classrooms and teaching spaces for the next few weeks, but not for longer than necessary.” added.
England was the only one of the four countries in the UK where face shields were not previously recommended for use in classrooms.
With the number of daily infections at record highs and the obligation to isolate people who test positive for at least seven days, schools and other public services are facing a staff shortage.
The government asked public sector managers to prepare for the worst case scenario, with a 25% absence of staff in the coming weeks.
Zahawi said some distance learning would be necessary, given the number of students and teachers who will have to isolate themselves.
However, he added that face-to-face teaching will continue to be the expected norm and that the exams will go ahead as planned this month.