Newspaper column 21 May - COVID Update 9

In the ninth week of lockdown we have begun to see how the changes put in place by the Government as of last Wednesday are working.

Over the last weekend the roads and open spaces were busier than earlier in the lockdown. A lot of this appeared to be local people exercising under the new rules, but I will continue to seek updates from local police on what this movement is made up of and feed back to the Government as appropriate.

One of the things coming from last week’s announcement that many people have contacted me about is regarding the reopening of schools for some age groups on 1st June. 

It is extremely important to note that it remains up to the parents as to whether they send their children back to school. They do not have to and will not be fined for choosing to keep their children at home. 

Unfortunately, it is impossible to eliminate the risk entirely at this stage of the outbreak. However, what is clear is that we are past the peak of the virus and the risk to children is very low.  

The age groups of the children who will be going back to school on 1st June are at key stages of their development and education. Keeping them out of school for longer could be detrimental to their physical and mental health and for their chances in later life. 

I accept that social distancing will be a challenge. The government is issuing important guidance for schools who are making the necessary plans and changes to ensure that schools can be as safe as possible for the return. Class sizes will be much smaller than before, and these classes will not mix with any other classes and will remain with one teacher for the duration of the school day. 

Good levels of hygiene will of course be encouraged and there will also be testing availability for children and teachers. 

It is also worth noting that the plans for schools is provisional and things may change. These are careful first steps and the timetable for reopening will be delayed if necessary. If the alert level does not allow it then the schools won’t reopen on 1st June. 

The Prime Minister has said: ‘If there are problems, we will not hesitate to put on the brakes’, and I will continue to represent the interests of Truro and Falmouth as part of the overall Government response to the pandemic.   

Finally last week with the ease in lockdown I was able to join Volunteer Cornwall in Truro and help deliver prescriptions to people who are self isolating. Thank as ever to both Volunteer Cornwall and everyone else who continues to go above and beyond for their communities during this crisis.

My team and I are here to help during this crisis. You can email me at Cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk, call me on 0207 2193713 (messages will be picked up), and my website www.cherilynmackrory.org.uk and Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/thisischerilyn are all regularly updated with matters relating both to the current crisis and other useful news and information. Please do get in touch if you need any help or have questions for me.