Gavin Williamson scraps Covid bubbles in schools from 19 July – video

More than 640,000 children in England were absent from school last week because of Covid, as the government announced its plans to sweep away the current system for containing Covid outbreaks in schools, colleges and nurseries.

In a statement to parliament, the education secretary said that from 19 July, grouping pupils into protective bubbles within schools, colleges and nurseries in England would be scrapped along with other preventive measures, with requirements for self-isolation for contacts to end in August.

Secondary schools will still be required to conduct twice-weekly lateral flow tests of pupils at the start of the new school year. But Williamson said the practice would be reviewed before the end of September