Plea for schoolchildren in Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes to wear face masks amid record Covid cases

Schoolchildren in one of the country's Covid-19 hotspots are being asked to carry on wearing face masks - despite a national relaxation of rules.

Bedford Borough currently has the third highest rate of coronavirus in England - with 1,488 cases per 100,000 people - and numbers are continuing to rise.

It has prompted health bosses in Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes to ask secondary school pupils and staff in all education settings to carry on wearing face masks in communal areas and on school transport - even though it stops being a legal requirement from Thursday.

Vicky Head, director of public health at Bedford Borough Council, said: "Case rates are not falling locally as they are in other places. We are seeing record rates in our school pupils particularly, and case rates are not currently falling in adults either."

Latest figures from Imperial College's REACT study found that while nationally overall rates of Covid had declined at the start of January, rates among five to 11-year-olds rose as pupils returned to school. One in 13 children in that age bracket had coronavirus between 5 January and 20 January.

Ms Head said, in Bedford, record rates among school children were continuing to put a strain on schools.

She said: "High rates of infection are causing disruption to education locally as significant numbers of pupils and staff are required to isolate."

Last week Boris Johnson announced the lifting of Plan B coronavirus measures in England.

From Thursday, 27 January, wearing face coverings in any setting will no longer be compulsory - although the government recommends they are still worn in enclosed or private spaces.

Secondary school pupils will no longer be made to wear masks in classrooms and communal areas. However many school leaders are choosing to keep the requirement in place.