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The military is being called in to assist high schools and colleges with coronavirus testing at the beginning of the spring term.
Some 1,500 staff members will provide planning support, training and telephone counseling to English schools that need help with the assessment process and the installation of facilities.
The government is pushing ahead with plans to return primary school, upper secondary and university students in early January, despite scientists saying a delay is necessary if the rate hike is to be controlled. of infection.
Every secondary school and university in England will be offered tests, with £ 78 million allocated to support this, the government said, adding that schools will receive the kit they need.
In most cases, students are expected to scrub under the supervision of a member of the school staff or a volunteer who has been trained for the role.
Military support for the program begins this week and will consist primarily of webinars and meetings, although there will be teams capable of deploying on short notice to provide closer support if needed.
There are currently 2,914 military personnel supporting government departments and civil authorities in the response to the coronavirus.
Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said: “The UK Armed Forces are stepping up this holiday once again. This week I have authorized over a thousand Armed Forces staff to assist schools returning after the holidays. of Christmas.
“They will share considerable experience from nationwide testing and successful school pilots conducted this fall.
“We are grateful for the professionalism and commitment that they and our colleagues in teaching are showing to get students back in the classroom and continuing their education.”
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Schools to return, exams to continue, says Gove
Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove told Sky News that, for now, the government remained committed to its plan for students to return from January 4 on a staggered schedule.
“Our plan is for the primary schools to return, but with the secondary schools it will be the case that next week only the Year 11 and Year 13 children, those who are doing their GCSEs, their BTECs, their A-levels, will return, ” he said.
A recent article on the new variant of COVID from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine warned that even action similar to the second national lockdown in November in England, in which schools remained open, is “unlikely” to reduce the infection rate to less than one “. unless elementary schools, high schools and universities are also closed.”
Both London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Conservative mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey have called for schools to reopen later than planned in January.
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Back-to-school delay ‘needs to be extended’
NASUWT, the teachers union, wrote to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson on Monday to urge him to allow schools to “restrict provision in place to pupils who are deemed vulnerable, along with the children of key / frontline workers. , and that such restrictions will apply. ” in the case of those schools and colleges that serve communities in the highest level areas “.
Meanwhile, the Politico website reported that the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), led by Senior Scientific Advisor Sir Patrick Vallance, has urged ministers to keep high schools closed next month in a bid to curb the increase in infections.
On Monday, the UK registered its largest daily increase in coronavirus cases since the pandemic began, with 41,385 positive tests.
