First minister Nicola Sturgeon has been told it is “not credible” to say that transmission of Covid-19 will not happen in schools and that “further action is needed” to keep staff and pupils safe -including the introduction of face coverings.
Ms Sturgeon - responding to the comments from co-leader of the Scottish Greens, Patrick Harvie, at First Minister’s Questions - said the guidance on face coverings could be reviewed “in the near future”.
Amid widespread concern over “clear inconsistencies” in guidance over face coverings and other safety measures, Mr Harvie urged the first minister to make that change “sooner, rather than coming too late”.
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He said: “We do all appreciate that there is uncertainty but in the context of uncertainty we should be taking a precautionary approach.”
Earlier this week, the EIS teaching union wrote to the first minister to call for “stronger advice on face coverings, where physical distancing is not possible”. It said: “You cannot visit a museum without one but again schools are different?”
School safety has also been a hot topic at the government’s daily coronavirus briefings, with education secretary John Swinney yesterday forced to defend the government’s position that face coverings should not be mandatory.
Mr Harvie said today: “The evidence is clear that face coverings can reduce the spread of the virus, which is why they are needed in other indoor spaces. It is just not credible to say that transmission will not happen in schools when we know the risk exists everywhere else when social distancing doesn’t happen.
“So is the first minister as concerned as I am about pictures of crowded school corridors and canteens where social distancing clearly isn’t possible, and does she believe face coverings should be worn in high schools where distancing is not possible?”
Responding to Mr Harvie, the first minister said she was concerned “about every aspect of this virus and how it transmits” but she insisted that getting children back to school was the right thing to do given “the harm” associated with children being out of school and away from education.
She added: “But equally I understand the concerns that parents have and they are entirely understandable. We see a number of cases associated with schools right now - there’s one in my own constituency that was reported yesterday, St Albert’s Primary in Pollokshields, where a class is isolating - and there’s a number of these.
“This will perhaps change, so we can’t rule this out, but in the bulk of the evidence so far the transmission is not within the schools, it’s community transmission that is causing issues for schools. But we have to keep this evidence under review.”
Ms Sturgeon said: “To conclude my answer, on the issue of face coverings, I do think this is something we have to constantly review and I’m sure it will be a topic of discussion at the Education Recovery Group tomorrow and it may well be that is guidance that in the near future we do look to change in terms of the role of face coverings in schools.
“None of this can be fixed in stone right now. We are trying to navigate a really difficult and uncertain and unpredictable situation, prioritising having children back in school, but absolutely being determined to do anything that is required to make that return to school safe, and allow it to continue.”
