Thousands urge UK government to keep schools closed

WORLD; A letter from an NHS nurse urging the government to keep schools closed because of the health risks to staff and the wider community has attracted more than 7,000 signatures, as teachers described trying to maintain social distancing in primary classrooms as “almost impossible”.

Iain Wilson, an NHS nurse with two children at school in Lewisham in south London, who has experience of working with Covid patients, wrote to ministers: “Do not make us the global guinea pigs. It is self-evidently unwise to force hundreds of people into small rooms in small buildings during a pandemic.

“Some teachers have already tragically died from the virus, and we do not want to risk any more,” wrote Wilson, a member of the Keep Our NHS Public campaign, in an open letter to the health secretary, Matt Hancock. Agencies