Covid-19: School closures will be 'as short as possible'

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The education secretary said there is "absolutely no reason" schools will not be ready to roll out mass testing.

Gavin Williamson told BBC Breakfast he wanted school closures to be as "short as possible" after delaying the reopening of schools in at-risk areas.

It comes as people are being warned to avoid New Year's Eve celebrations amid surging coronavirus cases.

Some 20 million people in England have been told to "stay at home" after tier four was expanded at midnight.

They join the 24 million already in the toughest restrictions.

On Wednesday, Mr Williamson announced that around one million pupils in at-risk areas would not return to school as planned on Monday - when term is due to start.

The education secretary told BBC Breakfast that remote learning would be "mandatory" from the week commencing 11 January for all secondary students, other than years 11 and 13 who would physically return to school on that date.

He said there was £78m of funding for schools, equipment such as personal protective equipment (PPE) and support from the military would help them get mass testing programmes set up.

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December 31, 2020 at 09:35PM

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55496444