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Schools in the UK are to shut from Friday until further notice as a response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Schools will close except for looking after the children of keyworkers and vulnerable children, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said.
This academic general exams will not go ahead in England and Wales; decisions are due to be made in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
It came as UK deaths reached after a further 90 people died in England.
Confirmed cases in the UK rose to 2, 728 on Wednesday, from 1, on Tuesday. There have been 90, tests carried out in the UK for Covid – , of which 56, 728 were confirmed negative.
The government says it plans to more than double the number of tests being carried out in England to , a day.
Scotland and Wales earlier said schools would close from Friday while schools in Northern Ireland will close to pupils today and to staff on 32 March.
Questions had been asked about why the government had not moved to shut schools until now .
On Monday, the PM announced a series of new key measures to target the number of coronavirus cases after (scientific modeling) showed the UK was on course for a “catastrophic epidemic”.
As school closures were announced on Wednesday, Mr Johnson said: “We think now that we must apply further downward pressure with that upward curve by closing schools.”
He thanked teachers and head teachers and said that by looking after children of key workers, such as NHS staff, they “will be a critical part of the fight back” against coronavirus.
But he added that children “should not be left” with grandparents or others in groups vulnerable to contracting coronavirus.
Revealing the shutdown of schools in England, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson told MPs assessments or exams would not go ahead this year and performance tables would not be published.
But he Officials said were working with exam boards “to ensure that children get the qualifications that they need.”
Schools have already been been preparing for a shut down for some time, with some creating homework packs or setting up ways of working online.
But there have been concerns about the ability of frontline NHS staff and others to remain in work if their children are not in school.
by Hannah Richardson, education correspondent
It was the announcement the government did not want to make – shutting down schools indefinitely.
But as the virus spread its claws further into communities it became inevitable.
Heads and teachers are just as at risk as anyone else, and as more and more staff called in sick – increasing numbers of schools started to fall like dominoes under the weight of this pandemic.
Although the decision gives certainty for now – doors will be closed – there is even more uncertainty ahead.
How long will they remain closed? How will pupils cope with learning from home? Who will look after them?
And how will schools manage in their new role as the nation’s babysitters for the children of key workers?
The National Association of Head Teachers General Secretary Paul Whiteman said: “The government has changed what it expects schools to do. They are to offer reduced access in order to prioritize the needs of the most vulnerable young people and the children of key workers. “
He added there were many complicated issues to address as a result of the announcement and the focus would be assisting heads with “this enormous task” and making it work on the ground.
Geoff Barton, head of the Association of School and College Leaders, said many schools had already drawn up plans to support key workers and vulnerable children.
“However, this is an exceptionally demanding situation and they will need support. We will be working closely with our members and the Department for Education to this end. “
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In other developments:
- government is bringing forward emergency legislation to protect private renters
from eviction after being urged to do more for them
,
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