The Daily Star’s FREE newsletter is spectacular! Sign up today for the best stories straight to your inbox

Boris Johnson could not confirm when schools will open after England's third national lockdown.

The Prime Minister announced the restrictions on Monday, January 4, set to last until mid-February.

Schools across England will not stay open as planned this January, after millions of students returned for one day on Monday, January 4.

Johnson told the House of Commons today: "All the evidence shows that school is the best place for our children and indeed all the evidence shows that schools are safe and that the risk posed to children by coronavirus is vanishingly small."

He added: "(For) most children the most dangerous part of going to school, even in the midst of a global pandemic, remains I'm afraid crossing the road in order to get there.

"Our efforts to contain the spread of this new variant would not be sufficient if schools continued to act as a vector or a potential vector for spreading the virus between households."

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson will later outline a package of support for young people.

The Department of Education yesterday confirmed that schoolkids across England will not sit their exams as usual this year – with exam boards currently drawing up a new plan to award pupils grades.

Johnson added: “When we begin to move out of lockdown I promise that [schools] will be the very first things to reopen.

“That moment may come after the February half term although we should remain extremely cautious about time table ahead.

“As was the case last spring, our emergence from the lockdown cocoon will not be a Big Bang but a gentle unravelling.”

• 

  'Drunk pest' who bit punter's nose and bouncer's finger smirks outside court

Johnson said people must stay at home in order to give those administering the vaccine a "head start".

He continued: "If we're going to win this race for our population, we have to give our army of vaccinators the biggest head start we can possibly can.

"And that is why to do that we must once again stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives."

The UK has recorded more than 50,000 coronavirus cases for seven days in a row, with 407 additional deaths announced yesterday.

• 

  Homeless man builds impressive wooden cabins from materials found during pandemic

Meanwhile, new figures suggested one in 50 people had coronavirus last week.

Data from the Office for National Statistics suggested 1.1 million people in private households in England had Covid-19 between December 27 and January 2.

Today's measures are expected to pass with ease, with Labour set to support the motion.

• 

  Gang rape suspect denies NYE flight attendant murder as he and pals ‘are all gay’

By February 15, the NHS is committed to offering everyone in the top four priority groups a vaccine.

That includes care home staff, front-line NHS staff, anyone who is clinically extremely vulnerable and anyone aged over 70.

More than 1.3million people have received their first coronavirus vaccination so far in the UK, with the first Oxford/AstraZeneca jabs being rolled out on Monday.

That includes 650,000 people aged over 80 – meaning 1-in-4 of the most vulnerable have already been vaccinated.

• Boris Johnson
• Coronavirus

Source: Read Full Article