Schools could re- open after the Easter holidays if current lockdown measures continue to work, a minister has reportedly said.
Last month it was announced all schools were to close in a bid to stop the spread of the virus.
Key workers, such as NHS staff, supermarket workers and pharmacists were permitted to send their children to school.
Now, a Minister has suggested schools could reopen sooner than expected – if the lockdown measures currently in place start to trigger a flattening of the curve when it comes to the number of infections.
Speaking to the Times , the unnamed senior Minister claimed : “We need to be led by the science, of course.
“But if we can reopen schools after the Easter holidays things could begin to get back to normal. It could kick-start the economy. ”
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A Minister reportedly suggested a re-opening of schools could help “kick-start the economy” (Image: Getty Images / Cultura RF)
The Mirror Online has approached the Department of Education for a comment.
Boris Johnson’s lockdown was announced by the PM on March and is due to be reviewed on Easter Monday – with the peak of the virus expected to occur this weekend.
However, London’s mayor warned Brits to hunker down for at least a month of (coronavirus
lockdown after a government minister admitted “I don’t know ‘when it will end.”The key factor to decide when the lockdown is listed will be when new cases each day “peak” and start to fall.
Reports had suggested government officials were looking at Easter Sunday as the possible date of the peak.
But that is now just four days away.
Whi le there are early signs of infections slowing down, scientists say they won’t know for certain for a week or more.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said the peak could still be days away (Image: PA)
Schools were shut down last month as the country started its lockdown measures (Image: Getty Images)
London mayor Sadiq Khan
told BBC Radio 4’s Today program: “I think we’re nowhere near lifting the lockdown.
” I speak to experts regularly, in fact after this I’ll have another call with Public Health England and NHS London experts.
“We think the peak which is the worst part of the virus is still probably a week and half away.”
Health Minister Edward Argar said there was now a “tiny hint” that infections were “slowing down”.
But he does not know when the Government’s lockdown restrictions will be lifted, adding “we’re not there yet”.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Mr Argar said: “We need to start seeing the numbers coming down and that’s when you’re in the negative.
” That’s when you have a sense when that’s sustained over a period of time, that you can see it coming out of that.
“We’re not there yet and I don’t exactly know when we will be.
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The law says the lockdown can roll on indefinitely if ministers choose to.
It does not legally have to be reviewed after three weeks – and could in fact carry on for months with no change to the current law.
The emergency powers ban people from going outside without a list of good reasons, including shopping for essentials, doing essential work, a medical need or once a day for exercise.
The law also bans gatherings of more than two people in public, unless they’re from the same household.
Offenders can be fined £ 410 to start with by police, rising to almost £ 1, 10 by the time it is a third offence.
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