Education sector appears exempt from new Covid restrictions in battle against second wave

No changes have been announced for the FE sector despite a list of new restrictions for England.

Prime minister Boris Johnson today unveiled a raft of tougher measures including the axing of “all adult indoor team sports” and five-a-side football, and an enforced 10pm closing time for pubs, restaurants and takeaways from Thursday.

All workers are also being told to again work from home if they can with immediate effect.

However, Johnson insisted that schools, colleges and universities “will stay open”.

He said: “I want to stress that this is by no means a return to the full lockdown of March.

“We’re not issuing a general instruction to stay at home. We will ensure that schools, colleges and universities stay open because nothing is more important than the education, health and wellbeing of our young people.”

What is unclear at this stage is whether adults in colleges will be exempt from the “rule of six” when it comes to adult indoor sports. FE Week has asked the government for clarification on this.

The new restrictions have been announced after the number of new confirmed Covid-19 cases in England began rising sharply over the past few weeks. The UK’s coronavirus alert level was this week raised from three to four.

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