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LONDON – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned the country on Sunday that he expects tougher restrictions to combat the spiral of coronavirus cases, as a dispute broke out over whether schools should reopen.
“We may have to do things in the coming weeks that will be more difficult in many parts of the country,” Johnson told the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show.
“I am totally reconciled to that.”
Britain recorded 57,725 new cases on Saturday, its highest total in the entire pandemic, with a new strain of the virus across the country.
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Health officials are concerned that rising numbers could overwhelm hospitals during the busiest time of year.
Much of Britain is already under strict regional rules to prevent the spread, although primary schools are scheduled to reopen in most of the country when the Christmas holidays end on Monday.
However, around a million children aged four to 11 will learn remotely after the government announced that primary schools in London, where case rates are particularly high, will remain closed.
Johnson told parents elsewhere that they should “absolutely” send their young children to school when the term begins.
“I understand people’s frustrations, I understand people’s anxieties, but I have no doubt that schools are safe and that education is a priority.
“We have really fought very hard during this pandemic across the country to keep schools open,” he added.
But Jerry Glazier, a national executive member of the National Education Union, told AFP on Sunday that “schools are playing an important role in spreading the infection” and called for all of them to be closed for at least two weeks.
“Schools are not safe for children and for education workers,” he added. “Many teachers are very eager to get back to work.”
Johnson said public health experts had highlighted the long-term health and social costs of out-of-school children.
– ‘Difficult period ahead’ –
“There are many factors to consider, in particular the deprivations in the communities that are left behind,” he told Marr.
“The problem is how to prevent schools from being places where the virus can circulate. I think weekly lateral flow tests in schools can make a big difference.”
READ: The EU stands ready to help expand vaccine production
The government is also concerned that school closures will create more chaos for students who take their final exams in May and June.
Johnson, who has been criticized for his handling of the pandemic that has killed more than 74,000 people in Britain, has his hopes pinned on the mass launch of the recently approved AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine.
Britain will have 530,000 doses of the vaccine available for use as of Monday.
“We can see the way forward in terms of a route to follow, we can see how we can get out of this. But we have a difficult period ahead of us,” he warned.
Britain has already vaccinated about a million people after approving the Pfizer vaccine in early December, Johnson said Sunday.
“We hope we can make tens of millions over the course of the next three months,” the prime minister said.
