Schools in the North-East may reopen separately once Covid lockdown ends

She warned that primary and secondary schools across the country may not be able to reopen at the same time once Covid restrictions are lifted.

This morning, the deputy chief medical officer for England said that a regional approach may be taken as Covid infection rates will likely vary across the country.

When asked about the restarting of schools and whether there could be a regional or phased system after the lockdown, Dr Harries said: “I think it’s likely that we will have some sort of regional separation of interventions.”

She added: “So I think on the broad epidemiology it is highly likely that when we come out of this national lockdown we will not have consistent patterns of infection in our communities across the country.

“And therefore, as we had prior to the national lockdown, it may well be possible that we need to have some differential application.”

But Dr Harries said schools will be at the top of the priority to ensure that the balance of education and wellbeing is “right at the forefront” of consideration.

Addressing the Education Select Committee on the risk of transmission in schools, Dr Harries said: “Schoolchildren definitely can transmit infection in schools – they can transmit it in any environment – but it is not a significant driver as yet, as far as we can see, of large-scale community infections.”

Dr Harries' comments came as latest figures for the North-East and North Yorkshire revealed all areas in the region had seen a fall in the Covid infection rate.

SEE MORE: Covid infection rates across the North-East as whole region sees FALL in cases 

All fourteen council areas saw a downwards trend, with case rates falling by between 2 and 30 per cent in the past week.

In a step in the right direction, the fall in cases suggests that the national lockdown restrictions - brought in earlier this month - is beginning to yield results.