Dr Hilary Jones has assured Good Morning Britain that children ‘transmit coronavirus less than others’ after plans were revealed for schools to re-open on 1 June.

Appearing alongside Ben Shephard and Ranvir Singh this morning, the medical expert discussed the decision to phase in the re-opening of primary schools, in which Boris Johnson expects early years, reception and year 1 children to return to school.

But Dr Hilary told viewers at home that even though both pupils and teachers have a part to play in socially distancing and stopping the spread of the virus, the chances of children transmitting the virus to other is ‘less.’

‘What we do know is that children are transmitting the virus less than others,’ he explained.

‘The evidence is pretty strong around the world that children are not only more resilient to the virus but they transmit it to others less than adults do.’

Dr Hilary then conceded that he does also understand the concerns of teachers in returning to work, one headteacher in particular said to parents that ‘I’d rather your children re-take a year than die’ as there is ‘no such thing as social distancing in primary schoo.’

Dr Hilary continued: ‘So if you’re working with children, the risk is lower but I do understand the concerns of teachers.

‘If the classrooms are big and if children aren’t socially distancing – all of which can be mitigated – then there’s a potential risk and it needs to be worked out.’

Government guidelines for pupils returning to primary education next month could see some drastic changes to classrooms to combat Covid-19.

The Department of Education’s guidelines say class sizes should be limited to 15 students, the staggering of lunch and break-times and placing dividers in corridors.

At the time of writing,

Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV.

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