1) The UK government keep justifying their decision to reopen schools by saying they are mirroring Denmark who have successfully reopened schools, and directed the unions to find out how it has been achieved safely, so we did and this is what we found:
2) • Denmark reopened schools when it had significantly lower infection and death rates.
Denmark 95 deaths per 1 million of the population
UK 513 deaths per 1 million of the population.
Denmark 95 deaths per 1 million of the population
UK 513 deaths per 1 million of the population.
3) • Social distancing in Denmark schools was strictly 2 metres. Department for Education guidance in the UK doesn’t actually insist on social distancing, it just says 'maintain social distancing where possible'.
4) • In Denmark students are in groups of 5 outside and groups of 3 in classrooms. Department for Education guidance in the UK suggests splitting classes in half, meaning potentially 15 students together in a group.
5) • The government in Denmark gave schools extra money to buy more sinks and cleaning products to maintain the highest levels of hygiene. UK government has given schools no extra funding to improve hygiene.
6) • Unlike the UK, Denmark didn't leave individual headteachers to decide if their schools were safe to reopen, instead local authority health and safety experts had to approve and sign off individual schools plans to reopen before they could allow students back in.
7) With 34,796 deaths the UK should not be mirroring Denmark who have only suffered a total of 548 deaths. The closest comparisons we have in Europe are Spain and Italy, where schools are remaining closed until September.
