Dad slams ‘absurd’ decision to keep daughter’s school open while other stays shut 700 yards away

A DAD has slammed the government’s “absurd” decision to keep his daughter’s school open in a Covid hotspot while another is shut 700 yards away.

Stephen Cook’s daughter Holly, 10, and other pupils must attend Coldfall Primary School in Muswell Hill, North London.

The government has said schools in the borough, Haringey, can remain open despite soaring infection rates.

But less than a ten-minute walk away from Holly’s school, another primary school Coppetts Wood, in the borough of Barnet, will close until January 18.

It comes as experts fear schools could stay shut until February half-term as a mutant coronavirus strain rips through tier four London.

Mr Cook, 55, told MailOnline: “It’s all very confusing and totally absurd.

‘TOTALLY ABSURD’

“But then you could say that we live in very confusing and absurd times.

“None of it makes any sense because there are kids that come from the London Borough of Barnet to my daughter’s school and she also has friends from there.

“Haringey’s infection rate is higher than Barnet’s so why are not all schools in the area closing?”

Primary schools in 14 London boroughs with lower infection rates than Haringey will be closed except to children of key workers and vulnerable children from Monday.

Yesterday, parents in other boroughs blasted “confusing” rules over schools reopening – as one opens up and another shuts on the same London street.

Mr Cook lives on Coppetts Road, which divides the boroughs of Haringey on one side and Barnet on the other.

He said: “Kids who live in the borough of Barnet attend Coldfall and Haringey kids go to Coppetts Wood.

“And when they are out and about in local parks, they are constantly mixing and playing.

“We are in an incredibly difficult situation and I’m glad that I’m not in charge, but we need greater clarity because a lot of people don’t understand what’s going on.

“I live in a Covid hotspot but if I cross the road, I’m in the London Borough of Barnet so why is there not more consistency?”

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has been criticised for the “confusing” guidance on schools.

Tottenham MP David Lammy tweeted: “Struggling to understand Gavin Williamson’s logic in leaving Haringey Council off the list of areas for delayed school openings.

“Our infection levels are higher than other London boroughs included, and no one consulted locally. This is about life and death. This needs urgent review.”

Yesterday, Britain saw its highest ever daily rise in coronavirus cases with 55,892 infections reported in the past 24 hours.

A further 964 deaths were recorded, bringing the total number of fatalities to 73,512.

Meanwhile, masks could be made compulsory in schools to slow down the spread of the new fast-spreading variant of Covid.

Government advisers warned that new measures were needed to tackle the new strain, which makes up 63 per cent of cases in England and 77 per cent in London.

In a paper, Sage and the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours (SPI-B) warned: “Population level approaches to further reduce contact between people are likely to be necessary, such as extending Tier 4; changing the operation of schools/universities; travel restrictions between regions and internationally; and/or introducing a national lockdown.”

Cath Noakes, who chairs SPI-B, added it was “likely we need a step change in everything to keep it under control: hands, face, space, ventilate”.