Coronavirus: schools may have to take pupils from shutdown schools

Emergency legislation is likely to be drawn up to allow schools to ignore rules governing class sizes and pupil-to-staff ratios in the event that some schools have to take on children from others that close because of the coronavirus.

At the press conference to deliver the government’s coronavirus “battle plan”, Boris Johnson said: “We don’t think schools should be closing in principle. If possible they should stay open but school authorities should follow the advice of Public Health England.”

The new rules could could be triggered either if the World Health Organization declares that the risks have escalated or if a group of countries, including the UK, makes a coordinated decision that the virus has entered a new phase.

The powers would be strictly temporary however and will no longer be applicable once the disease is no longer an epidemic.