Nearly 20,000 schools across England have sent pupils home to self-isolate because they cannot get a coronavirus test, according to reports.
Alarming polls suggest that 82 per cent of schools have pupils missing from classrooms since they went back to school a few weeks ago.
There are 24,372 schools in England, suggesting that 19,982 schools have kids off. And nearly half - 45 per cent - of schools say they also have staff off work, unable to get tests to confirm whether they are safe to return, according to the poll.
Most schools – 70 per cent – have only sent individual pupils suspected of having Covid home, but seven per cent say they have sent home multiple pupils if they get one positive test, based on the fact they are in whole