Responding to the announcement from the education secretary today (Tuesday) that school bubbles and self-isolation are to be scrapped from 19 July, UNISON assistant general secretary Jon Richards said:
“The government’s alarming approach abandons children to a highly transmissible virus spreading at a record pace through schools.
“Safety measures like bubbles and self-isolation are proven to reduce the spread of the virus.
“With around one in ten pupils reporting symptoms of long Covid weeks after infection, this is a dangerous gamble from the government.
“The only way to minimise risk is for tried and tested safety measures like masks, good ventilation and self-isolation to stay.
“Allowing the virus to spread rapidly amongst unvaccinated pupils provides an ideal environment for new variants to emerge.”
Notes to editors:
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union, with more than 1.3 million members providing public services – in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, private and community sectors.
Media contacts:
Siobhan Cooley M: 07432 549183 E: s.cooley@unison.co.uk
Anthony Barnes M: 07834 864794 E: a.barnes@unison.co.uk