Emergency powers will allow the government to force schools to stay open, even if class sizes have to grow because of teacher absences

Schools have been ordered to stay open by Boris Johnson and his health advisers, despite their recommendation that mass gatherings now stop and millions of other employees should work from home.

Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief science adviser, said that it may be necessary to think about school closures “but those things need to be done at the right time”.

At the same press conference, the first of now daily events, Mr Johnson said: “We think at the moment on balance it’s much better if we can keep schools open for all sorts of reasons, but I appreciate this is something we need to keep under review.”

Teachers took to social media to complain about what they saw as double standards. “Government is playing games