A powerful Scottish Government advisory group has backed classrooms being closed until February 1st.

Their position will now be considered by Nicola Sturgeon’s Cabinet and an announcement made in an emergency statement at 2pm today.

If endorsed, it would mean only children of key workers would be able to attend classes in school while remote and online learning would continue for all other pupils until the end of January.

Mainland Scotland has been in level four lockdown since Boxing Day and face-to-face learning is currently scheduled to be back on January 18.

However, concerns about a new strain of covid-19 are growing, and the Scottish Government is expected to announce additional restrictions - including a stay at home order.

On schools, it is understood that the Government’s advisory sub group on education recommended that classrooms should remain closed until February 1.
This was backed by the Education Recovery Group (ERG), which met this morning, according to a report in the Record. If agreed by the Cabinet, it would be kept under rolling review.

The ERG is chaired by Education Secretary John Swinney and its membership includes EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan who has been calling for remote learning to apply to schools in all level four areas.

The First Minister yesterday confirmed she would be recalling Parliament this afternoon to discuss additional measures due to a growing spread of the virus causing “very serious concerns”.

Scotland has seen an increase of 2464 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours – a higher figure than Saturday’s confirmed increase of 2137 new cases.

The daily test positivity rate is now at 15.2% – up from 10.8% on Saturday.
No further deaths were recorded on Sunday as the register offices are closed over the public holidays. As of December 31, 4578 people who tested positive for Covid-19 have died.

In a series of tweets, Sturgeon said yesterday: “The rapid increase in Covid cases, driven by the new variant, is of very serious concern.

“The steep increases and severe NHS pressure being experienced in other parts of the UK is a sign of what may lie ahead. So we must take all steps to slow spread while vaccination progresses.

“We, like other countries, are in a race between this faster spreading strain of Covid and the vaccination programme.

“As we work to vaccinate as quickly as possible, we must also do more to slow down the virus – to save lives and help the NHS care for all those who need it.

“Following a meeting of the Scottish Government resilience committee yesterday to assess latest situation, the Cabinet will meet tomorrow am to consider further action to limit spread and I’ve asked for Scottish Parliament to be recalled tomorrow afternoon so that I can set out our decisions in a statement.

“All decisions just now are tough, with tough impacts. Vaccines give us way out, but this new strain makes the period between now and then the most dangerous since start of pandemic.

“So the responsibility of government must be to act quickly and decisively in the national interest.”

Today will be the fifth time Parliament has been recalled since it was reconvened in 1999 and the second time within the last four weeks.

Previously, it was recalled after the deaths of Donald Dewar in October 2000 and the Queen Mother in April 2002. It was also reconvened following the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, in 2009 and was recalled last week to debate the Brexit trade deal.

The First Minister added: “For now, please continue to take Covid seriously – it is a real threat to life and health and, if it runs out of control, it damages the economy more too.

“Please stay at home as much as possible and avoid non essential interactions with other households. Thank you.”

Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie today said the safety of pupils, teachers and school staff must be the determining factor in deciding whether to delay the return to school.

“With Covid-19 once again out of control and concerns about the new strain growing it’s clear that a cautious approach needs to be adopted by the Scottish Government,” he said.

“It’s time that the Government listened to teachers who have said repeatedly that they don’t feel safe in their classrooms. Everyone accepts that schools should be kept open in an ideal world, but the current situation is far from ideal.”

Schools were closed for three months during the Spring lockdown and reopened in August after the summer holidays. The Scottish Government has been reluctant to close them again amid concerns over children’s well-being and education.