Sadiq Khan says schools could face coronavirus closure within two weeks
Sadiq Khan has advised that schools could be closed within the next two weeks as a part of increasing isolation measures to combat the coronavirus.
Boris Johnson announced a swathe of new recommendations yesterday, including for people to avoid “unnecessary travel” and to stop going to pubs, restaurants and theatres.
Large public gatherings have also been banned, however schools have not been advised to shut their doors.
Khan, who attended yesterday’s Cobra meeting, told BBC Radio 4 today that this advice would likely change soon.
He said: “We challenged this yesterday during the Cobra meeting. The advice from the experts is there is no good clinical reason to shut schools at the moment. That may well change before Easter.
“Clearly, if your child has a persistent cough or a temperature please don’t send him or her to school. Clearly teachers may be pregnant, or may have underlying health conditions, may need to self-isolate because a member of their family has one of those symptoms.
“I think over the course of the next two weeks as we approach Easter, I wouldn’t be surprised if schools are advised to close.”
The mayor also announced today a major reduction in public transport as fewer people begin to use Transport for London’s (TfL) services.
Passenger numbers on the Tube were down 20 per cent year-on-year last week and will likely fall further this week as more people work from home.
In response, TfL will run a “Saturday-type service” during weekdays, with reduced numbers of Tube and bus journeys.
Khan said the service could be reduced further in the coming weeks.
“What I don’t want to do is turn public transport off which means nurses, doctors, essential workers can’t reach their place of work,” he said.
TfL has estimated that the Covid-19 outbreak will cost it £500m in passenger revenue and will ask the government for financial assistance.