UK faces legal challenge over ‘unlawful’ suppression of COVID data in schools

The British government is facing a legal challenge over “unlawful” suppression of coronavirus data in schools across the United Kingdom, a report says.

In a pre-action letter sent to Public Health England (PHE), advocacy group the Citizens and AWO has accused PHE of acting “unlawfully” by withholding data on the spread of the Indian variant in schools.

The data rights firm claimed that PHE “surrendered its independent judgment” to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

UK daily COVID cases highest in a month, Indian variant rising sharply

Britain reported its highest daily total of new coronavirus infections in a month while cases of a variant of concern first found in India continue to climb.

Reports showed that PHE, which had been preparing to publish the data on 13 May, decided not to do so after it faced pressure from the prime minister’s office.

In its letter, the Citizens and AWO asserted that PHE, according to the law, must be independent and operate without political interference, warning that it will face formal legal proceedings in the High Court unless it publishes the data immediately.

Clara Maguire, executive director of the Citizens, said, “It defies belief that Public Health England is refusing to publish this vital public health data on the spread of the so-called Indian variant in schools despite scientists, teachers, parents and unions all saying that they need it to safeguard theirs and their children’s health.”

“We believe that there is an immediate risk to life,” Maguire said in a statement shared with The Independent, adding that PHE is breaking the law by “withholding” the data.

“It is unbelievable that a matter of vital importance to our public health can be subject to political interference,” she noted.

Cassie Roddy of AWO also said PHE needs to explain why it has surrendered its independent judgment to Johnson “in deciding not to publish this information.”

Meanwhile, Jon Richards, head of education and local government for Unison, said the organization is “in favor” of the legal action.

“If you want the trust of the public then you need to be open and transparent with the information you have,” Richards said.

“Pupils, their parents and staff in schools deserve to know if they are being put at risk by any new COVID variant,” he said, adding the fact that the government is “holding back this information raises suspicion that they have something to hide.”

Dr. Deepti Gurdasani, an epidemiologist Queen Mary University London, has also urged the government to release the data.

“We know from media reports there are many outbreaks of the so-called ‘India variant’ in schools but there’s no systematic data,” said Dr. Gurdasani, who is quoted in the pre-action letter.

He went on to say that “in Bolton, it’s risen fastest in school-age children and it looks like schools are contributing to the rapid spread of the virus.”

Nevertheless, he added, “the government has gone ahead and lifted mitigations. It’s incredibly worrying.”

In a statement sent to The Independent, a PHE spokesperson said that a “breakdown of the number of cases of each variant is published weekly”.

“We are looking to extend this data to include information on clusters and outbreaks of variants by setting,” they said.

This comes as Johnson said on Thursday that the country may need to wait longer than planned before COVID restrictions are fully lifted as a coronavirus variant first found in India is spreading rapidly in Britain.

Coronavirus variant could push back England's reopening: PM Johnson warns

England may need to wait longer than planned before COVID-19 restrictions are fully lifted as a coronavirus variant first found in India spreads rapidly in Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned on Thursday.

The premier had previously laid out a roadmap out of lockdown for the UK, with all restrictions to end on June 21, but warned that the swift spread of the variant could threaten that plan.

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