A STAGGERING 800,000 children have missed school in a single week because of the Covid ‘bubble’ rule.
Around one in ten children in England are now stuck under house arrest because of the draconian rule, according to a new study.
The alarming numbers – which have rocketed over the past month – have fuelled alarm at the devastating toll Covid has had on education.
The latest government stats show that 821,000 state school kids – or 11.2 per cent – were not in class on July 1 because of Covid.
The kids are missing out on lessons despite plans for the bubble rule to be being ditched on July 19.
This includes 747,000 children forced into self isolation because of a possible Covid contact.
Another 35,000 pupils were off with suspected coronavirus, and just 39,000 were at home because they definitely had the bug.
Under the school bubble system, entire classes or even whole schools are sent home to self isolate if just one child catches the bug.
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Alarmed at the shocking toll this is having on kids’ schooling, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson announced last week that Bubbles are being ditched.
He told MPs last week: Mr Williamson told MPs: “Keeping children in consistent groups was essential to control the spread of the virus when our population was less vaccinated.
“We recognise that the system of bubbles and isolation is causing disruption to many children’s education.
“That is why we’ll be ending bubbles.”
This comes as no train operator or major bus or coach firm – or even the Tube – will require passengers to wear face masks after July 19.
Transport companies have the power to turn away passengers who refuse to cover their noses and mouths – even when the legal requirement is lifted on July 19.
The revelation comes from industry bodies following Boris Johnson‘s confirmation that England will be fully unlocked from next Monday.
But, yesterday the PM also announced “we expect and recommend” that people continue to wear face coverings in “crowded and enclosed spaces … such as on public transport”.
Cross-Channel train firm Eurostar and airlines such as British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair will continue to require passengers to wear face coverings from July 19.
But train industry body the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) announced that all domestic train operators, such as Avanti West Coast, TransPennine Express and Southeastern, will not go that far.
An RDG spokesman said: “Rail companies will ask people to follow the Government guidance and, out of respect for others, wear face coverings if an indoor setting is busy.
“Train travel is low-risk, with the majority of carriages well ventilated by air conditioning systems or by doors and windows.”
Meanwhile, young Covid patients are suffering injuries to their organs, a Government scientific adviser has warned.
Professor Calum Semple, a member of Sage, said youngsters were getting kidney and lung injuries after being hospitalised with the disease.
Talking about the people currently going into hospital, Prof Semple told BBC Breakfast “they’re nearly all unvaccinated”.
“And what’s surprising is that although they’re not dying, they are suffering quite a lot of injuries, so we’re seeing a lot of kidney injuries and lung injuries in these younger people,” he said.
Prof Semple said his concern was not so much tragic deaths, but “otherwise healthy people that would normally be economically important”.
“They’re going to get damaged, they’re going to get lung scarring and kidney disease… this is actually different to long Covid, this is acute Covid injury”, he said.
The professor from the University of Liverpool, also said there were some older people in hospital where the vaccine “just can’t help” them “because they’re older, and the immune system doesn’t protect them”.
He added: “My big message to people now is ‘sure we’ve weakened the link between community cases and hospital cases, but that link is not broken and it’s the people that are not vaccinated that are still coming to harm’.”
