As schools shut down all over Britain because of coronavirus concerns, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned grandparents against looking after the kids.
Johnson had announced the indefinite school closures which will start from March 20 as the country tries to slow down the spread of the virus.
The elderly are at the most risk of contract and suffering complications from the virus which is why they could be put at greater risk if they babysat the children.
Roughly four in five of the 14 million grandparents in the UK provide free childcare.
Johnson gave the warning in the hopes that families protect their elderly loved ones from exposure to the virus. As of March 19, the number of deaths due to COVID-19 jumped to 104, up by 33 in just 24 hours.
The PM said: “I also need to remind parents, as we have already advised, that children should not be left with older grandparents or older relatives who may be particularly vulnerable or fall into some of the vulnerable groups.
“I know that is going to be difficult too, and I want to thank families for their sacrifice at this difficult time.
“And I want to thank the whole country for the efforts people are making to comply with these measures.”
Because of the shutdown, the May and June exams will be canceled, also affecting SATs, GCSEs, and A-Levels.
Johnson cited the teachers and heads who would need to make “these exceptional arrangements work for the benefit of us all.”
He added: “By looking after the children of key workers they will be a critical part of our fightback against coronavirus.”
The closures come just two weeks before kids were supposed to go on break anyway for Easter speaks of the desperate measures taken in an attempt to manage the spread of COVID-19. Most likely, the schools may not reopen before the six-week summer holiday.
As Johnson announced the early school closure, the first time in modern history, he said: “After schools shut their gates from Friday afternoon, they will remain closed to most people, until further notice.”
He added: “We have the power to do so.”
It’s expected that private schools, nurseries, and further education colleges will be following suit.
Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s Chief Scientific adviser, clarified that schools were not “dangerous” for kids.
He added that children often have “very mild or asymptomatic” versions of the disease “in many cases” and as such, were “the least at risk.”
But Sir Patrick added: “The reason for this [school shutdown] is because of the effect it can have just to knock down further the transmission.
“To protect those people who might get the much more serious version and end up in intensive care or on a ventilator.”
Not everyone was confident that shutting down schools could make a huge impact on the number of coronavirus cases. Experts assumed that because children would be out of school, grandparents would be forced to take care of them more, thus possibly speeding up the spread.
However, the British government has come under increasing pressure as schools all over Europe have also closed down.
According to one MP, school heads across the country were calling for a shut down because they were out of soap and hand sanitizer.
Another headteacher also said they could not give the kids the proper levels of education they normally could.
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