Schools To Close, Exams Axed In A Bid To Slow Virus

Boris Johnson ordered schools to shut their gates tomorrow for the foreseeable future – sending up to 10 million children home.

- Sam Lister

A skeleton operation will continue for the children of key workers, which will include doctors, police and delivery drivers.

Exams will be cancelled and nurseries will also close down in a dramatic escalation of the government’s battle to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The Prime Minister had wanted to keep classes open as long as possible but said scientific advice meant it was time to order children to stay at home.

Speaking in Downing Street, the PM said: “The objective is to slow the spread of the virus and we judge it is the right moment to do that.”

Ministers also announced a temporary ban on evictions of renters who may struggle to pay landlords during the coronavirus “national emergency”.