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Boris Johnson chaired an emergency COBRA meeting on coronavirus on Thursday and escalated the country’s response to coronavirus. The Government has moved to the “delay phase”. During this he hinted we are facing the real prospect of new measures such as school closures, cancelling public events and urging employees to work from home where possible. It comes as teachers have been told to prepare “home-learning packs” for students, amid fears schools could be closed for more than two months.



Schools could close their doors as early as next Friday (March 20), just weeks before the traditional Easter break, although the Government insists no date has been earmarked yet. The closure would likely mean pupils spend a month out of the classroom, but schools could be forced to close their doors for a much longer period, not returning until June. Reports had earlier suggested the Prime Minister would make the school closing announcement today. Mr Johnson said it was too early to close schools but teachers are already preparing for closures. JUST IN: Coronavirus school closures: PM risks making things WORSE, says expert

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Coronavirus UK: Teachers have been asked to prepare 'home-learning packs'

But reports claim some teachers have been told to prepare "home-learning packs", which must be ready by Friday. The plans may also include setting up teaching via online education platforms, to ensure pupils can work remotely. One teacher told The Mirror: “We have had guidance from our head of the academy who has been told to expect at least a week-long closure, possibly two. “If schools are closed from mid-March, it wouldn’t make sense to open them up again so close to Easter. We’re preparing for a month at home. “The home-learning packs have to be all ready by this Friday, with the aim of sending them home with the kids the following Friday.” READ MORE:

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Speaking yesterday in front of the nations media, Mr Johnson said the government would not close schools. He said: "We are not, repeat not, closing schools now. The scientific advice is that this could do more harm than good at this time." He added that the policy would be kept under review. In the same meeting he said the Government is "considering" banning public events.

Coronavirus UK: Schools could be shut for more than two months

Another teacher at a school in the north of England said they had been ordered to get emergency plans underway. They said plans are being drawn up for children to be given lessons at home, with staff preparing teaching material in advance. But such a move could prove problematic for students who do not have internet access at home. With schools closed, officials are expected to initiate a deep clean of all buildings in order to eradicate all traces of the virus. Last month Professor Chris Whitty, the UK’s Chief Medical Officer warned schools could face closures for more than two months, if coronavirus was declared a pandemic. DON'T MISS:

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Speaking to an audience of health experts at a Nuffield Trust think tank conference, Mr Whitty said: “Everybody knows that the kinds of things you consider – reducing mass gatherings, school closures, which may or may not be appropriate for this particular virus… “Because one of the things, frankly, with this virus much more so than flu, is whatever we do we’re going to have to do for quite a long period of time, probably more than two months. And the implications of that are non-trivial. So we need to think that through.” Yesterday the World Health Organization confirmed the coronavirus outbreak has been labelled a pandemic. WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the number of cases outside China had increased 13-fold in two weeks. He said he was "deeply concerned" by "alarming levels of inaction".

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More than 326,000 people have signed a petition calling on the Government to close all schools in the UK to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The petition, launched by Sami Attout, urges Mr Johnson to take a more "proactive" response to the outbreak. Former cabinet minister Rory Stewart has joined those urging the Government to announce the immediate closure of UK schools. He also called on all "medium and large gatherings" of people to be cancelled. Leo Varadkar has announced schools and childcare facilities in Ireland will close from Friday. He also called on employees to work from home and banned public gatherings of more than 100 people.

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It is not yet clear what the implications will be on GCSE and A-Level exams if schools are forced to close. The first GCSE exam is due to be sat in less than two months time, on May 11. Exam boards are currently working with the exam regulator Ofqual to plan “for a range of scenarios”. They are understood to be looking at delaying exams and offering grading based on earlier papers for those unable to sit an exam.

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Ofqual sought to reassure students and parents not to worry about the coronavirus outbreak. They said in a statement: “We recognise that students, parents, schools and colleges will be concerned about the possible impact of coronavirus on the 2020 summer exam series “Our advice is to continue to prepare for exams as normal… Our overriding priorities are fairness and keeping disruption to a minimum.” It comes as the UK confirmed more than 596 cases of the virus yesterday, with eight confirmed deaths.

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