On Tuesday, he sent Gavin Williamson to announce that, as in Scotland, face masks would now be required in communal areas of schools in England. Earlier the same day, his own press office had announced that England’s policy on face masks in schools was not going to change. And on Sunday, he had approved a briefing by chief medical officers that the risk of Sars-CoV-2 transmission in schools was very low. I also know that the science of controlling the spread of the pandemic is complex, contested and fast-moving. To that end, we – and those to whom we entrust our children’s safety – need a dialogue with our political leaders, not an opaque algorithm or outsourced consultancy project.

Source: The Guardian August 27, 2020 14:03 UTC