On 18 March, the coronavirus death toll in the UK rose to 104, after the NHS confirmed a further 32 people had lost their lives after testing positive for Covid-19.

In response, Boris Johnson has ruled that UK schools are to shut from Friday until further notice in response to the pandemic. This includes nurseries and private schools, and the PM has stated that exams will not take place in May and June.

“The objective is to slow the spread of the virus and we judge it is the right moment to do that,” the prime minister said at his daily coronavirus press briefing.

“But of course, as I’ve always said, we also need to keep the NHS going and to treat the number of rising cases. So we need health workers who are also parents to continue to go to work.

“And we need other critical workers with children to keep doing their jobs too – from police officers who are keeping us safe to the supermarket delivery drivers, social care workers who look after the elderly and who are so vital…. so we therefore need schools to make provision for the children of these key workers who would otherwise be forced to stay home. And they will also need to look after the most vulnerable children.”

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