The petition ‘Close Schools / Colleges down for an appropriate amount of time amidst COVID19’ asks government to ‘at least’ consider shutting institutions in the coming weeks to prevent further spread. It also accuses the government of being ‘reactive’ rather than ‘proactive’ in its response to the outbreak. Rory Stewart, a London mayoral candidate and former Conservative minister, is backing the closures, and is urging officials to close schools and cancel major events.

Mr Stewart has spoken out after health secretary Matt Hancock attempted to block policies like school closures and mass quarantines on March 9, telling government officials to expect repercussions if it acts too early.

He told the House of Commons: “The scientific advice is clear – acting too early creates its own risks, so we will do what is right to keep people safe.

“When it comes to school closures, one reason why closing schools is not a cost-free option is that it takes away some of the very staff whom we need to be able to respond to the crisis.”

In response, Mr Stewart criticised the government for downplaying the pandemic: “The government has made a serious mistake today. They should be acting much more aggressively to contain coronavirus.

“Schools should be shut now. If the government are not prepared to shut them now, they should – at the very least – state clearly and transparently what their triggers will be for closing schools over the next few days.

“All medium and large gatherings should be cancelled. All passengers coming from hotspots should be tested and quarantined. There is no excuse for passengers not being tested off a plane from Milan last night.”

As the numbers of cases across the UK rise, universities are hard-hit with students at prestigious institutions testing positive for the virus, such as the University of Oxford which confirmed two cases.

However, university vice-chancellors have told the government they cannot completely close their doors if COVID-19 rips through the halls as thousands of students will be left stranded.

Prof Steve West, the vice-chancellor of the University of the West of England (UWE) in Bristol, said: “My bottom line back to government has been that they can’t treat universities like big schools because we aren’t. I’ve got 4,500 students living on campus: some of them are care leavers or estranged from their families and many are international students. We can’t just shut down as they would have nowhere to go.”

Meanwhile Italy and Iran, the two countries most afflicted by coronavirus outside of East Asia, have cancelled all school classes until further notice.

Coronavirus in the UK is said to be spreading at a similar rate to Italy, with the peak of the virus hitting in the next two weeks.

Speaking to LBC, Mr Stewart said that following the example of China: “I feel the government should be moving faster. I would be, for example, shutting down all schools in London now.”

Office for Students, the higher education regulator for England, told universities on Monday to report the number of confirmed and suspected cases of the virus on campus.

A spokesperson for the OfS said universities should “continue to follow advice from DfE and Public Health England”. Any decision to close universities would be taken by the Department for Education.

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