A crunch meeting will be held on Monday over whether to reopen schools in January - with Education Secretary Gavin Williamson reportedly telling allies he's facing a "enormous battle".
The under-fire cabinet minister - who stayed in post despite overseeing last summer's A-level results debacle - is said to be keen to get schools back to normal.
But scientists are calling for a full lockdown - with a crunch meeting between officials from Downing Street and the Department for Education being held next week.
Experts have warned that closing schools may be the only way to keep the new mutant coronavirus strain under control. A source told the Sunday Telegraph: “Gavin is trying to keep them open, which is why he rolled out the testing stuff
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