Mr. Andy Pike:

I will make this very brief. The issue that struck a chord with our members around the suggestion of early closing was that we have a group of members who are, in effect, restricting their own movements because of the risk of Covid-19; they are not seeing elderly relatives and have not done so for a considerable period of time. It was not so much that members were saying that they wanted a few more days off school, it was a question of whether a change in arrangements would allow them a bit of space in terms of being Covid safe. However, it is not an issue on which we have received much communication. Where it was supported, it was on the basis of the question of whether, if this happened, it would it mean that it would be safer for teachers to see 80-year-old relatives or not. That was the query that members brought to us.

On the question about PPE, if we were describing more complex PPE that one would find in an intensive care unit or Covid ward in an acute general hospital, those stocks are very carefully monitored because the equipment is quite expensive. What we are looking at in terms of schools is the very first rung on the face mask ladder. We managed to source a seemingly unending supply at a cost of around 20 cent per mask, and we were told by the suppliers that we spoke to, having had to start supplying the masks to our own members, that stocks are plentiful at the moment and the masks are warehoused around the world. We do not foresee any potential difficulties with the PPE that is appropriate for schools, but that might not be the same in the case of respirator masks that are used in acute healthcare settings, which is a completely different piece of equipment.