1. Why have I been banging the drum yet again? Because parents and schools have been sold a false bill of goods. Children can be infected and they can and do transmit #COVIDー19.

We were told schools were safe, that there was little risk of transmission in schools.

Wrong. https://twitter.com/adamhamdy/status/1309539236710944768

2. We were told masks would have no benefit.

Wrong again.

Schools are a particular risk, because they connect the entire country. Fail to make schools safe and we will all suffer. https://twitter.com/drzoehyde/status/1309518405226000385

3. Yet again, this government has refused to follow the advice of scientists. SAGE recommended rotating cohorts. DELVE, NERVTAG & WHO recommended the use of masks. The government decided to wing it. Worse than that, the DfE instructed schools to avoid using masks in class.

4. Which made it difficult for children who wanted to wear masks to protect themselves or vulnerable parents. This government has let us down many times, but it is perhaps over children that we will feel the betrayal most deeply.

5. As our schools become the engines for transmission and universities isolate and quarantine students who are away from home, perhaps for the first time, how can this government’s policies be viewed as anything other than abject failure?

6. The government could have learned from other countries. Instead, it opted for the path of least resistance. Parents, teachers, school staff, universities and unions should hold it to account. Demand better. This isn’t good enough.