A mother from Norfolk has shared her anxiety about the possibility of her five-year-old daughter returning to school next month.
Ministers want primary school pupils to return by May 11 as Office for Budget Responsibility figures forecast the economy will shrink by 35pc due to the current lockdown.
Rebecca Fisher, a 25-year-old mother of two from Burnham Market, has vowed not to send her daughter Elsa back to school until the coronavirus crisis is over.
She said that ‘it’s not safe’ and thinks her children’s health along with the health of the community is more important than the economy shrinking.
Speaking to Fabulous, the 25-year-old blogger said: “I first heard about coronavirus in January and, like most people, wasn’t particularly concerned, naive to what lay ahead.
“But as my anxieties around it grew so did my concern for her. I decided to pull her out of school - something I could have never envisioned doing.
“Yes, Elsa loves school and her education is so important - but when it comes down to it, it is not the most important thing.
“If anything happened to her at school I would never forgive myself.”
A five-year-old and 13-year-old have died after contracting Covid-19, although it is not confirmed where they caught the virus.
But experts have cast doubt over whether children are as affected by the virus as adults.
Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, said: “I suspect we might open schools again, partly because there is still debate about whether school closures are actually beneficial or not.
“We’ve not answered that, and there are very good reasons why school closures, in terms of the children, might actually not be that useful.
“If they don’t get that ill, maybe they’re not that infectious – but it is a maybe.”
Since lockdown, Mrs Fisher, who writes under the name The Coastal Mummy, and her children have not left the house and her husband, Jonny, has been leaving their home once a week for an essential shop.
The blogger said: “I have started homeschooling the children and do it for around two hours a day.
“The alternative - going out and my children getting sick - is much worse.
“That is why, even if the government lifts the restrictions and she is allowed back to school, I won’t let her.
“Even if the government allowed it I wouldn’t feel safe with Elsa going back to school before September and if it takes until 2021 for me to feel safe, then so be it.
“Her health is more important to me than the economy. What about if there is a second wave?”
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