UK PM orders PR campaign for schools to reopen in September: Sunday Times

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

WORLD NEWS AUGUST 8, 2020 / 6:09 PM / UPDATED 5 HOURS AGO

UK PM orders PR campaign for schools to reopen in September: Sunday Times

(Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ordered a public relations campaign to ensure schools reopen on time in September and said in a meeting that they should be the last places to close even in case of a local lockdown, The Sunday Times newspaper reported.

“The PM stressed (in a Thursday meeting) that the harm done to children’s education by not attending school as well as to their mental health is far more damaging than the low risk posed (by the coronavirus), which schools will be carefully managing,” the newspaper quoted a source as having said.

A study published on Tuesday said Britain risks a second wave of COVID-19 this winter twice as large as the initial outbreak if it reopens schools full-time without improving its test-and-trace system.

Schools in Britain closed in March during a national lockdown, except for the children of key workers, and reopened in June for a small number of pupils. The government wants all pupils to return to school by early September, with Johnson calling this a national priority.

Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Daniel Wallis

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-britain-education/uk-pm-orders-pr-campaign-for-schools-to-reopen-in-september-sunday-times-idUSKCN2540YU

[SheltieLover]

1. Putin snap his fingers at BOJO?

Wtf is wrong with those guys?

[tanyev]

2. Right, that'll get rid of the coronavirus. A PR campaign.

It’s working so well here.

[3Hotdogs]

3. Dead kids don't learn.

[Denzil_DC]

4. Scottish schools reopened this week.

Not that you'd know anything about it from the Reuters article.

The Scottish school year is different to that in England and Wales. In a normal year, the summer holidays begin around the end of June and end around mid-August.

Needless to say, we're watching developments closely. We have a pretty functional test and trace system in Scotland, and various distancing etc. measures are in place as the schools go through a phased opening. I have no doubt the Scottish government will take swift action if it looks like a new wave of infections is resulting.