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All high schools and universities in Wales will move to online learning from Monday, the Welsh Minister of Education said.
Kirsty Williams said the move was part of a “national effort to reduce the transmission of the coronavirus.”
And it comes after the country’s chief medical officer, Dr. Frank Atherton, warned authorities that there was a “deteriorating” public health situation in Wales.
COVID-19 rates have exceeded 370 people out of 100,000 in the Welsh population, with a test positivity rate of 17%, according to the latest data from Test Trace Protect.
And R’s breeding number in Wales has risen to 1.27.
Almost half of all schools in Wales have not registered any COVID-19 cases since they opened in September.
But Ms. Williams conceded that schools can contribute to a broader social mix outside of the educational setting.
“The virus is placing significant and sustained pressure on our healthcare service and it is important that we all make a contribution to reducing its transmission,” said Ms Williams.
“In the advice he gave me today, the CMO recommends that a shift towards online learning be implemented for high school students as soon as possible.
“So I can confirm that a shift to online learning should be implemented for high school and college students starting Monday next week.”
Primary schools would be encouraged to remain open as “it is more difficult for children of primary and special school age to undertake self-directed learning,” he added.
