With daily coronavirus infections that come out as a result of a new virus variant, the British government on Saturday faced growing pressure from teachers’ unions to keep schools in England closed for at least two more weeks.
The government, which oversees schools in England, has already decided to keep all London schools closed next week to try to curb new infections. The unions want the policy to spread across England, expressing fears about the health of both teachers and children.
On Saturday, the UK hit the daily record for new coronavirus infections (57,725) and looks set to soon overtake Italy once again to become the most affected country in Europe with nearly 75,000 deaths from COVID-19. The fear is that with the rise in infections, the death toll will also rise in the coming weeks.
HANNAH MCKAY / REUTERS
The UK has recorded its five new daily infection figures in the last five days, all above 50,000 and twice as many as a few weeks ago.
Following an emergency meeting on Saturday, the National Education Union, which represents more than 450,000 education workers, called on the Conservative government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson to move online learning for at least two weeks. . He also told members they have the legal right not to have to work in an “unsafe environment” to expedite 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 to the health of their school communities,” he said. Kevin Courtney, joint member of the union Secretary General.
Another union representing teachers, the NASUWT, also called for an immediate nationwide relocation to remote education due to virus security issues. Its general secretary, Patrick Roach, said there was a “real concern” that schools and colleges could not 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 colleges,” he said.
The government’s own Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies warned at a December 22 meeting that schools should remain closed to reduce virus transmission rates.
The UK is struggling with a sharp rise in new cases as a result of a new variant of the virus that officials say could be up to 70% more infectious.