Many thousands of primary school children will not be in class today as part of the Government fight against a virulent new Covid strain.
Hundreds of primary schools in London, the South East and the East will be closed apart from to children of key workers. Meanwhile, headteachers and local councils elsewhere in the country appear to have defied Boris Johnson's call for children to return to class, with many deciding to stay shut.
Council leaders elsewhere in England have written to the Government asking to be allowed to switch to remote learning. Secondary schools, meanwhile, are shut nationwide until January 18 for most students as preparations for mass testing of pupils are put in place.
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