Boris Johnson declined to guarantee that all children would be back in school before the summer holidays but said he is full of “optimism and fundamental hope” that things will be different in the spring.
Asked to guarantee that all pupils will be back in classrooms before the summer holidays, the British Prime Minister told the Downing Street press conference: “We think that with the vaccination programme we can do a huge amount to take out of the path of the virus those who are most vulnerable. That clearly offers opportunities to our country to do things differently.
“I am full of the same optimism and fundamental hope about the position that I think Chris (Whitty) has adopted and I really think that things will be very different in the spring and that’s what I would certainly say to every parent in the land.”
Mr Johnson, however, did add there is a “prospect” the coronavirus lockdown in England can be eased in mid-February.
The British Prime Minister told a No 10 press conference: “When a very considerable proportion of the most vulnerable groups have been vaccinated … then there really is the prospect of beginning the relaxation of some of these measures.
“But you will also appreciate there are a lot of caveats, a lot of ifs built into that, the most important of which is that we all now follow the guidance.”
Commenting on children and coronavirus, Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer of England, said: “One thing that we do not think is that this new variant is any more dangerous for children than the old variant is.
“There’s no evidence, for example, that the hospitals are filling up with children.
“There is always a risk with any infection to people of all ages but children are relatively much less affected than other groups, which is one of the few good things you can say about coronavirus, and that will be important obviously when schools can go back.
Professor Chris Whitty said that some restrictions may have to be brought back into place next winter to control the virus.
England’s chief medical officer told the Downing Street press conference: “If we did not do all the things all of us must now do, if people don’t take the stay at home seriously, the risk at this point in time, in the middle of winter with this new variant, is extraordinarily high.”
He said the risk level will gradually decrease over time with measures being “lifted by degrees possibly at different rates in different parts of the country, we’ll have to see”.
“We’ll then get over time to a point where people say this level of risk is something society is prepared to tolerate and lift right down to almost no restrictions at all,” he added.
“We might have to bring in a few in next winter for example, that’s possible, because winter will benefit the virus.”
