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LONDON: With daily coronavirus infections on the rise as a result of a new variant of COVID-19, the British government faced mounting pressure on Saturday (January 2) from teachers’ unions to keep schools in England closed for al minus another two weeks.
The government, which oversees schools in England, has already decided to keep all schools in London closed next week to try to stop new infections. The unions want the policy to spread across England, expressing fears about the health of both teachers and children.
The UK hit a daily record for new coronavirus infections on Saturday (57,725) and it looked like it will soon overtake Italy once again to become the worst-hit country in Europe with nearly 75,000 deaths from COVID-19. The fear is that with the increase in infections, the number of deaths will also increase in the coming weeks.
Britain has recorded its five highest numbers of new daily infections in the past five days, all above 50,000 and double from just a few weeks ago.
After an emergency meeting on Saturday, the National Education Union, which represents more than 450,000 education workers, called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government to move learning online for at least two weeks. He also told members that they have a legal right not to have to work in an “unsafe environment” of accelerated coronavirus cases, hospital admissions and deaths.
“We are doing our job as a union by informing our members that they have a legal right to refuse to work in unsafe conditions that are a danger to their health and the health of their school communities,” said Kevin Courtney, a member of the union. general secretary.
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Another union representing teachers, the NASUWT, also called for an immediate national move toward remote education due to concerns about virus safety. Its secretary general, Patrick Roach, said there is a “genuine concern” that schools and universities may not be able to reopen safely at this time.
“The NASUWT will not hesitate to take appropriate measures to protect members whose safety is put at risk as a result of the failure of employers or the government to ensure safe working conditions in schools and universities,” he said.
The government’s own Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies warned at a December 22 meeting that schools should remain closed to reduce transmission rates of the virus.
The UK is struggling with a sharp increase in new cases as a result of a new variant of the virus that officials say could be up to 70% more infectious.
The variant has been particularly prevalent in London and surrounding areas, prompting Education Secretary Gavin Williamson to backtrack on plans to allow some primary schools, those for children under the age of 11, in the capital to reopen as scheduled on January 4.
Most of the other primary schools in England are still scheduled to open on Monday. High school reopenings have already been delayed for millions of students, with students from the exam year scheduled to return on January 11 and others a week later.
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With many British hospitals at or near capacity, there is growing concern about how the National Health Service, which has already expanded, will cope with the expected increase in people seeking treatment after becoming infected over the holidays. The field hospitals are being refitted again to receive patients.
On the vaccines front, Britain began vaccinating people over 80 and healthcare workers on December 8 with the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine. Last week, the government approved another vaccine made by the University of Oxford and pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca that is cheaper and easier to use.
The UK plans to increase vaccines on Monday with 530,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine and has set a goal of vaccinating 2 million people per week as soon as possible.
The Princess Royal Hospital on Haywards Heath in southern England was one of the first to receive the newly approved vaccine on Saturday.
“So while it is really difficult and the staff is under pressure, the hospitals are coping with it and we continue to provide care to all who need it,” said Dr. George Findlay, the trust’s medical director.
More than a million people in the UK have already received their first injection of the Pfizer vaccine.
In a change from practices in the US and elsewhere, Britain plans to give people a second dose of both vaccines within 12 weeks of their first injection rather than within 21 days, to speed up immunizations in as many people as quickly as possible.
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