NEW RULES Kids will be able to take a lunchbox to school but NOT a pencil case when it reopens

SCHOOL children will be allowed to take a lunchbox with them but not a pencil case when schools reopen, the government has said.

At yesterday's coronavirus press conference, deputy chief medical officer Dr Jenny Harries claimed that pencil cases were "easier to control" than lunchboxes.

Dr Harries added that schools could also provide clean pencil cases for children to minimise the risk of spreading the virus in schools.

She told reporters: "The basic public health principle is you want to keep everything as clean as possible - touch points if you like, so the things we normally think of as door handles and those sorts of things, wipe down and clean frequently.

"I think the thing in a children's environment is there are certain things that you can control pretty well, which might include pencil cases and things that you use routinely during education.

"By doing that, schools can provide them and ensure that they are maintained clean."

Dr Harries continued that fears over lunch boxes spreading the disease were lower, as she claimed that children were less likely to want to share them than a pencil case.

She added: "The issue about lunch boxes is they're quite personal to the child eating the lunch, and I can almost guarantee that one child won't want to eat the lunch of the one sitting hopefully two metres distance from them."

As part of the new measures aimed to keep students and staff safe from the virus at school, the government will also try to encourage "contained" interaction between students.

Dr Harries said this could involve small groups in the classroom "where you increase the level of interaction a small amount, but it is contained".

She said: "Although it is recognised that small children will run around and interact, we expect them to, but you can still distance. I know this is the plan."

The announcement arrives amidst a fiery row between unions and government ministers over the planned return of schools, set to potentially go ahead this June.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson confirmed the government is pushing on with plans for pupils in Reception, Years 1, 6, 10 and 12 to return "as early as next month".

He also revealed that pupils in Year 10 and Year 12 will be back "on a limited" basis to help them plan for exams next year.

Mr Williamson said schools would only return if rates of infection continue to decrease and therefore give the "green light".

Unions, however, are vehemently opposed to the plan, and claim that teachers, pupils and their families will be at risk of catching the deadly virus.

Mr Williamson has warned teaching unions of "consequences" of schools not reopening.

The news comes as the UK's coronavirus death toll rose to 34, 466 after 468 further deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours.

A total of 240,161 people have now tested positive for Covid-19 across Britain - up 3,451 cases from yesterday.

The latest rise in deaths confirmed by the Department of Health is bigger than it was yesterday, when 384 more deaths were logged.

Figures also show that 208 - or almost half - of the deaths happened outside hospital.

The figures are an increase from last Saturday's 346.

Ref: Daily Mail