Staff and students in mainstream secondary schools will no longer be told to test for Covid twice a week after the prime minister unveiled his plans to remove the remaining coronavirus restrictions in England.
Speaking in the House of Commons this afternoon, Boris Johnson said that the legal requirement for people in England to self-isolate when they catch Covid will end from this Thursday (24 February), and that the government would no longer recommend that secondary students and staff, or early years staff, should test themselves twice a week.
These groups were “encouraged” to test twice a week using lateral flow tests from last month.
The prime minister explained that until 1 April, the government would still advise people who test positive to stay at home.
But after that date, people with Covid-19 symptoms will be encouraged “to exercise personal responsibility”, just as the government encourages people who may have flu to be “considerate to others”.
The prime minister also said that free lateral flow tests would only be available to the elderly and the vulnerable from 1 April.
‘Risk of Covid chaos’ in schools
Teachers’ leaders have criticised the announcement for its lack of detailed guidance for schools, with the plans described as more of a “headlong rush” out of restrictions than a “sensibly phased approach”.
Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU teaching union, said that “it is not the case that we have defeated Covid, nor that everyone can ‘live’ with it”.
She said that government attendance data showed the “high disruption caused by illness and isolation” and that although the Omicron variant had “faded” across the population, “it is nonetheless a presence in schools”.
Dr Bousted said that schools needed to know whether chief medical officer Sir Chris Whitty and the chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance supported the move to end isolation for those testing positive with Covid, which will come into place from Thursday.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, added that where Covid was concerned, “saying that it is at an end does not make it so”.
He said the announcement felt like a “headlong rush”, not a “sensibly phased approach”.
Mr Barton said that in removing legal requirements to self-isolate following a positive test, along with twice-weekly testing, there was a risk of increased disruption if more cases came into classrooms.
He said that the change in the rules on isolation also opened the door for conflict between schools and parents, where families interpreted symptoms that may or may not be the coronavirus “differently from their child’s teachers”.
“We are also concerned about where this leaves vulnerable staff and pupils or those with a household member who is vulnerable,” he added.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union the NAHT, said that the announcement potentially had “an enormous impact” on schools but that there was now a need for swift, “clear and unambiguous guidance” so that schools and parents understood what to do if a pupil or staff member tested positive for Covid.
“Without that clarity, there is a real risk the government could create a chaotic situation in schools and put school leaders in an impossible position,” he said, adding that schools could not be expected to manage the situation on an individual basis without guidance from public health officials.
Mr Whiteman said it was “crucial” that lateral flow tests remained free for pupils, otherwise the consequences for “disadvantaged pupils, in particular, could be severe”.
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