Sheffield health boss reveals the three reasons schools must remain closed

Greg Fell, the city’s director of Public Health, advised Sheffield City Council to delay the wider reopening of schools until 15 June after “carefully reviewing” the local position on the Government’s five tests which Downing Street said must be met before lockdown restrictions can be eased further.

On Thursday (29 May) Boris Johnson said the tests have been met and it was safe to begin gradually reopening schools starting with reception, Year 1 and 6 from Monday.

But Mr Fell claimed that was not the case in Sheffield. He said that while the city passed tests one and two, he cannot be “confident” about the remaining three.

The five tests are: Protect the NHS’s ability to cope; See a sustained and consistent fall in the daily death rates from COVID-19 so we are confident that we have moved beyond the peak; Reliable data from SAGE showing that the rate of infection is decreasing to manageable levels across the board; Be confident that the range of operational challenges, including testing capacityand PPE, are in hand, with supply able to meet future demand; Be confident that any adjustments to the current measures will not risk a second peak of infections that overwhelms the NHS.

Mr Fell said: “With regards to Test one, we know that the NHS in Sheffield is coping and that in regards to the second test, infection rates locally are coming down.”

However, Sheffield City Council said he “does not feel assured that the next three tests will be met in Sheffield by 1 June.”

On test three, which requires ‘reliable data that shows the rate of infection is decreasing to manageable levels’, Mr Fell said: “We do not currently have access to data about community transmission of Covid-19 at a local level.

“We cannot be confident of the rate of transmission [The R number] and spread of Covid-19 at a community level.”

On Thursday, the Government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance confirmed confirmed the R number is close to one.

Regarding test four, Mr Fell said the Council was confident all settings which need PPE will have enough. But he did not feel the NHS ‘Test and Trace’ programme, which launched on Thursday (28 May), is “sufficiently well established and robust enough to effectively manage any local outbreaks of COVID-19.”

He added: “In Sheffield we want more time for this programme to mobilise, be tested and demonstrate that it is working before we start to rely on it.”

On the final test, he said: “We only want to increase the number of children in schools and settings when we are confident we have all the right systems in place locally and these are shown to be working and effective and that it is therefore as safe as possible for children and staff.

“We will continue to monitor things closely and advise schools/settings when we do feel the time is right.”