LONDON (AP) – With the rise in daily coronavirus infections as a result of a new variant of the virus, the British government faced increasing pressure from teacher unions on Saturday to keep schools in England closed for at least two more weeks.
The government, which oversees schools in England, has already decided to keep all schools closed in London next week to try to contain new infections. The unions want the policy to be extended across England, expressing fears about the health of teachers and children.
The UK on Saturday set a daily record for new coronavirus infections – 57,725 – and looked set to overtake Italy once again to become the hardest hit country in Europe, with almost 75,000 deaths from COVID-19. The fear is that, with the increase in infections, the number of deaths will also increase in the coming weeks.
The UK recorded its top five daily numbers of new infections in the past five days – all over 50,000 and double the number just a few weeks ago.
After an emergency meeting on Saturday, the National Education Union, which represents more than 450,000 education workers, asked Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s conservative government to move online education for at least two weeks. He also told members that they have a legal right not to work in an “unsafe environment” of accelerated coronavirus cases, hospital admissions and deaths.
“We are doing our job as a union, informing our members that they have a legal right to refuse to work in unsafe conditions that are a danger to their health and the health of their school communities,” said Kevin Courtney, the representative union secretary general.
Another union representing teachers, NASUWT, also called for an immediate shift across the country to remote education due to virus security issues. Its secretary general, Patrick Roach, said there is “genuine concern” that schools and colleges will not be able to reopen safely at this time.
“NASUWT will not hesitate to take appropriate measures to protect members whose safety is at risk as a result of employers’ or government’s failure to ensure safe working conditions in schools and colleges,” he said.
The government’s own Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies warned at a meeting on December 22 that schools needed to remain closed to reduce transmission rates of the virus.
The UK is battling a sharp increase in new cases as a result of a new variant of the virus that, according to authorities, could be up to 70% more infectious.
The variant has been particularly prevalent in London and the surrounding areas, prompting Education Secretary Gavin Williamson to back down plans to allow some primary schools – those for children under 11 – in the capital to reopen as scheduled on January 4. .
Most of the other primary schools in England are still scheduled to open on Monday. The reopening of high school has already been postponed for millions of students, with students of the exam year scheduled to return on January 11 and others a week later.
With many British hospitals with or close to capacity, there are growing concerns about how the already overburdened National Health Service will cope with the expected increase in people seeking treatment after being infected on vacation. Field hospitals are being re-equipped to receive patients.
In front of inoculations, Britain started vaccinating people over 80 and health professionals on December 8 with the coronavirus vaccine Pfizer-BioNTech. Last week, the government approved another vaccine made by Oxford University and pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca that is cheaper and easier to use.
The UK plans to increase vaccination on Monday, using 530,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine and has set a goal to vaccinate 2 million people a week as soon as possible.
Princess Royal Hospital at Haywards Heath, in southern England, was one of the first to receive the newly approved vaccine on Saturday.
Dr. George Findlay, the fund’s medical director, said the newly approved vaccine is “much easier” to administer than the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which needs to be stored at temperatures around minus 70 degrees Celsius (94 Fahrenheit negative).
Over a million people in the UK have already received their first injection of the Pfizer vaccine.
In a change in practices in the U.S., Britain plans to give people a second dose of both vaccines within 12 weeks of their first injection, instead of 21 days, to speed up immunizations in the greatest number of people as quickly possible.
___
Follow the coverage of the coronavirus pandemic AP at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
11