BRADFORD Council has warned against schools re-opening too soon as lockdown restrictions area eased.

After a the Prime Minister's announcement that some lockdown measures would be eased, some schools are planning on opening in early June.

But Bradford Council has against opening too early. Today the Council urged people to stay at home where possible, pointing out that the rate of infection in Yorkshire and the North East is the highest in the country.

The R value – which signifies how many people an infected person passes the virus on to – is 0.8 in Yorkshire and the North East, double the London rate of 0.4.

New plea from health experts urges Bradford residents to stay at home - despite relaxed lockdown

Cllr Imran Khan, portfolio holder for education, employment and skills, said that he wanted to see the government’s scientific evidence on the level of risk to reopen schools for the limited benefit of just a few weeks in school with restricted learning.

He said: “The safety of families, school staff and the wider communities has to be paramount.

"We are calling on the government to work in partnership with families, teachers and trade unions to ensure that schools are supported to reopen safely and with confidence.

"The worst possible outcome would be to reopen too soon, causing the infection rate to rise again and putting everyone at risk both inside and outside schools.

"That kind of see-saw effect from reopening and then potentially closing again would also be the worst outcome for people’s jobs and the economy, which depend on certainty. What we need is a planned, careful and robust way out of this lockdown for schools. We are therefore calling on the government to publish the scientific evidence so that everyone is equipped with the information and can be reassured on when it is safe to open.

“We are concerned about the impact of children having to be home-schooled and we want children in school as soon as it is safe. We are focused on supporting our schools and families to sustain their incredible effort in home-schooling, while inside schools the care continues to focus on vulnerable children and the children of key workers. We will also ramp up the support we will provide to families during the long school summer holidays.

“We appreciate it’s a difficult and fast moving situation for government to deal with but we urge them to be prudent, to publish the scientific advice and to reassure everyone how they will be kept safe.

“Once again I want to pay tribute to the incredible leadership and dedication shown by our fantastic school staff who have truly served their communities with distinction throughout this public health emergency.”