Teaching union tells education secretary it is unsafe for schools in England to reopen as Covid cases rise

The head teachers’ union has begun legal action against the government in a bid to make ministers reveal why they think it’s safe for schools to re-open on Monday – amid the rapid rise in coronavirus cases.

All primary schools in London will now stay shut next week, as well as some in the south east of England – but pressure is mounting on the government to delay school reopening across England.

More hospitals are struggling to cope with high levels of infection – triggered by the new variant of the virus that’s spreading fast.

In the last 24 hours there have been a further 57,725 new cases across the UK.

Another 445 deaths have sadly been recorded. That means a total of 74,570.