The mayor of London announced on Friday that the British government will close all primary schools throughout the capital for the next two weeks, amid the rapid increase in new coronavirus infections.
The announcement comes after the UK’s education minister, Gavin Williamson, on Wednesday, said the country would delay the reopening of secondary schools, while continuing to reopen most primary schools for children under the age of 11 next week, according to Reuters.
The move has led to criticism from local leaders, as schools would be reopened in several areas of London where COVID-19 infection rates remain particularly high.
The Guardian reported that leaders in the congregation of Haringey has vowed to oppose the government to support schools that prefer to stay closed to keep students and staff safe.
In a letter sent to Williamson this week, local leaders from nine authorities in London called for all primary schools to remain closed to all students, except those in ‘vulnerable’ groups or those whose parents are essential workers.
In response, the British government held an emergency meeting of the Cabinet Office on Friday and voted to include the remaining areas of the capital as part of the list of schools that would remain temporarily closed.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced the change on Twitter, write, “The government finally made sense and turned around.”
“This is the right decision – and I want to thank Education Minister Nick Gibb for our constructive talks over the past two days,” Khan said, referring to the British Minister for Standards.
NEW: The government has finally made sense and turned around. All primary schools across London will be treated the same.
This is the right decision – and I would like to thank Education Minister Nick Gibb for our constructive talks over the past two days. https://t.co/D3u2eTIioW
– Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) 1 January 2021
Mary Bousted, Joint Secretary General of the National Education Union, also supported Friday’s decision, adding that all primary schools across the country should be closed, as well as that the UK should fight a new, more transferable COVID-19 series.
“What’s right for London is right for the rest of the country,” she told The Guardian. “It is time for the government to protect its citizens, and especially its children, by closing all primary schools for two weeks to properly assess the situation, make schools safer and protect children and their families.”
As of Friday, more than 2.5 million people in the UK were infected with COVID-19, with more than 74,000 deaths due to the virus, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
This is because citizens across the country have already started receiving the Pfizer BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, and on Wednesday the British health authorities approved the vaccine candidate of the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca for emergency use.
A third vaccine, manufactured by drugmaker Moderna, has been approved for the distribution of emergencies in the US, but the British health authorities have yet to remove it.