The mayor of London announced on Friday that the British government would close all primary schools in the capital for the next two weeks due to the rapid increase in new coronavirus infections.
The announcement comes after the United Kingdom’s Secretary of Education, Gavin Williamson, said on Wednesday that the country would delay reopening high schools, while reopening most primary schools for children under 11 next week. according to Reuters.
The move sparked criticism from local leaders as the schools that would reopen also include several schools in areas around London where COVID-19 infection rates remain particularly high.
The Guardian reported that leaders in the church Haringey pledged to defy the government by supporting schools that chose to remain closed to keep students and staff safe.
In a letter sent to Williamson this week, local leaders from nine London authorities called for all primary schools to be kept closed to all students, except those in “vulnerable” groups or those whose parents are essential workers.
In response, the British government held an emergency Cabinet Office meeting on Friday during which it voted to include the remaining parts of the capital in the list of schools that would remain temporarily closed.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan announced the change on Twitter, to write, “The government has finally made sense and has turned around.”
“This is the right decision – and I would like to thank Education Secretary Nick Gibb for our constructive talks over the past two days,” Khan said, referring to the UK’s School Standards Minister.
NEW: The government has finally made sense and has turned. All primary schools in London will be treated the same.
This is the right decision – and I would like to thank Education Secretary Nick Gibb for our constructive talks over the past two days. https://t.co/D3u2eTIioW
– Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) January 1, 2021
Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the The National Education Union also backed Friday’s decision, adding that all primary schools across the country should be closed and the UK is fighting a new, more transmissible strain of COVID-19.
“What’s good for London is good for the rest of the country,” she said, according to The Guardian. “It is time for the government to protect its citizens, and in particular its children, by closing all primary schools for two weeks so that the situation can be properly assessed, schools are made much safer and children and their families are protected.”
On Friday, more than 2.5 million people in the UK were infected with COVID-19, with more than 74,000 deaths from the virus, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.
This is because citizens across the country have already started receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, and Wednesday, UK health authorities the vaccine candidate approved from Oxford University and AstraZeneca for emergencies.
A third vaccine, produced by drug company Moderna, has been approved for emergency distribution in the US, but has yet to be approved by UK health authorities.