econdary school and college pupils will need to wear face masks in communal areas outside of their classrooms yet again in areas of the south west of England as extra support was pledged in response to a rise in coronavirus cases.
The Department of Health and Social Care said that from Friday Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly Devon, Plymouth and Torbay local authority areas – which have seen a rise in cases – will get help to increase vaccine and testing uptake, and deliver more public health messaging.
And although schools will return from next week as planned, students in secondary schools and colleges will again need to wear face masks in communal areas after the guidance was scrapped on July 19.
The new measures are expected to be in place for five weeks, with the impact monitored.
It comes after new figures showed growing numbers of local areas – including in the South West – were recording their highest rates of new cases of Covid-19 since comparable records began, as the third wave of coronavirus continues to pick up pace across the…
