COVID-19 Mask Mandate in Welsh Schools to Be Scrapped Next Week

A child wearing a mask listens during a geography lesson at Whitchurch High School in Cardiff, Wales, on Sept. 14, 2021. (Matthew Horwood/Getty Images)

The mask mandate in Welsh schools will come to an end next week, as the local government is set to scrap all remaining COVID-19 restrictions.

Currently school staff and secondary school pupils are required to wear face coverings when moving around school buildings and in communal areas.

But the Labour-led Welsh government announced on Tuesday that COVID-19 measures for schools will be “brought into line with guidance for businesses and other organisations” on May 9, meaning the current restrictions in schools will no longer apply.

The Welsh government said the move is in line with its “long-term COVID-19 transition from pandemic to endemic.”

The risk from the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus is now “considered in the same context as other communicable diseases, such as flu,” the government said.

First Minister Mark Drakeford has announced that the remaining COVID-19 restrictions will be removed on May 9, if the public health situation remained stable. The changes to the guidance for schools will come into effect on the same day.

Jeremy Miles, the minister for education and Welsh language, told a press briefing on May 3 that the government had written to head teachers informing them of the impending changes, which he said “will ensure school guidance is more closely aligned with the rest of society.”

“We all know that COVID-19 has not gone away. It remains vitally important we reduce the spread of the virus where we can; this includes, for example, following self-isolation guidance, and for education settings to continue to undertake robust risk assessments,” he said.

Schools will still be advised to work with local authorities and public health advisers so that measures are “appropriate and proportionate” and reflect the levels of local risk.

Schools and other education settings will be given checklists to consider which local measures remain proportionate, while special schools will continue to follow guidance for children and young people who are clinically vulnerable.

The move comes three weeks after Scotland officially put an end to its mask mandates on April 18, marking the end of all legal COVID-19 virus restrictions in the region.

Under the Scottish government’s new guidance, which came into effect this week, Scots who have COVID-19 symptoms or have tested positive are no longer asked to self-isolate or to take a PCR test.

In England, all COVID-19 laws, including the legal requirement for people who test positive to isolate, had already expired on Feb. 24.

PA Media contributed to this report.