Improve Covid testing for schools before students are forced from classrooms, says Yorkshire-born Children's Commissioner Anne Longfield

A survey conducted by school leaders union' NAHT revealed more than four in five schools in England currently have children not in class because they cannot access a Covid-19 test.

Now Yorkshire-born Children's Commissioner Anne Longfield has urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty to address the testing shortages and ensure schools remain a priority as the prospect of a second national lockdown looms.

She told The Sun: "The PM and Chief Medical Officer have said schools are a priority - they must be the last to close, the first to open.

"But they can't now throw those achievements away by not having tests in place."

Ms Longfield, who was born and brought up in Otley, also said priority testing should be implemented for teachers and children before more students and staff are forced out of the classroom when suspected Covid-19 cases worsen in the winter months.

She told the BBC: "A lot of problems come because teachers are showing symptoms and therefore need to be tested and this affects the schools, especially small ones, because there comes a point when you can't run a school because there aren't enough staff.

"That's going to be really difficult for teachers to be able to manage if they don't have the test and don't have the back-up they need to make those really difficult decisions.

"This is a test for Government that they cannot afford not to pass."

Ms Longfield's comments come after the leaders of the National Education Union (NEU) wrote to Boris Johnson on Sunday urging the Government to take emergency measures if schools and colleges are to stay safe.

They warned the Prime Minister not to take support for schools for granted, adding the testing regime needed to be increased and improved.

The letter, signed by joint general secretaries Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, said: "It is now clear that your Government has not managed to ensure that testing is sufficiently available to meet the predictable need when 12 million children and their staff returned to school in England."

A Government spokesperson said: "Schools and teachers have gone to extraordinary lengths to get children back into school, with over 99.9% of schools open with the vast majority of pupils attending.

"Where staff or children have symptoms, testing capacity is the highest it has ever been, and we are working to provide further priority access for teachers.

"Schools only need to identify close contacts and ask them to self-isolate if and when a case is confirmed from a positive test result.

"Close contacts of confirmed cases must follow the full 14-day self-isolation period and should only seek a test if they have symptoms."