Covid mitigation in schools

That this House notes that schools never shut and should never have to; expresses alarm that internationally and scientifically recognised, multi-layered mitigations advised by the WHO were not in place before in-person education resumed in September 2020, March 2021, September 2021 and January 2022 to prevent unnecessarily exposing students, staff and their families to increased risk of infection from airborne, covid-19 causing pathogens; recognises the importance of face-to-face learning in children’s psychosocial development but stresses that this cannot be at the cost of their safety; notes with concern the failure to issue guidance that was firmly grounded in health and safety legislation and scientifically recognised infection control protocols, instead focusing on maximising attendance, which has contributed to over 100 children dying and thousands suffering from long covid; calls on the Government to stop pursuing the prosecutions of parents who wish to prevent their children from catching and spreading covid-19; and praises the work of SafeEdForAll, for tirelessly helping hundreds of thousands of families across the UK, who are deeply concerned with the current safety of schools.