The Mayor of London announced on Friday that the British government would close all primary schools in the capital within the next two weeks amid a rapid rise in new coronavirus infections.
The announcement was made after the UK Minister of Education, Gavin Williamson, said Wednesday that the country would delay the reopening of secondary schools while moving forward with the reopening of most primary schools for children under 11 next week, according to Reuters.
The move has drawn criticism from local leaders, as schools scheduled to reopen include several in areas around London where COVID-19 infection rates remain particularly high.
The Guardian reported that leaders in the neighborhood of Haringey promised to challenge the government by supporting any 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 officials called for all primary schools to remain closed to all students, except for those in “vulnerable” groups or those whose parents are essential workers.
In response, the UK government held an emergency meeting of the Government Office on Friday, voting to include the remaining areas of the capital as part of the list of schools that would remain temporarily closed.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced the change on Twitterwriting “The government finally understood and turned around.”
“This is the right decision – and I want to thank Education Minister Nick Gibb for our constructive conversations over the past two days,” said Khan, referring to the UK’s minister of school standards.
NEW: The government finally realized common sense and turned around. All primary schools in London will be treated in the same way.
This is the right decision – and I want to thank Education Minister Nick Gibb for our constructive conversations over the past two days. https://t.co/D3u2eTIioW
– Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) January 1, 2021
Mary Bousted, Deputy Secretary-General of The National Education Union also supported Friday’s decision, adding that all primary schools across the country should be closed, just as the United Kingdom is fighting a new, more communicable strain of COVID-19.
“What is right for London is right 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 is properly assessed, schools become much safer and children and their families are protected.”
As of Friday, more than 2.5 million people in the UK have been infected with COVID-19, with more than 74,000 deaths due to the virus, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
This is because citizens across the country have already started receiving the coronavirus vaccine Pfizer-BioNTech and, on Wednesday, the UK health authorities approved the candidate vaccine Oxford University and AstraZeneca for use in emergencies.
A third vaccine, produced by the pharmaceutical company Moderna, has been approved for emergency distribution in the United States, but has not yet been released by British health officials.