Boris Johnson must be ready to close pubs and gyms if the evidence demands it

If children are to go back to school it may be that other forms of social mixing will have to be shut down, said Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, on Friday.

“If we wish to do more things in the future, we may have to do less of some other things,” he said at the No 10 news conference at which the prime minister confirmed new measures to limit household interaction in Manchester and other parts of northwest England.

Professor Whitty’s observation was significant, because it made explicit the kind of trade-off that lies behind all government policy in handling the coronavirus. It seems to have triggered a debate about where the balance should lie.

As we reported yesterday, Professor Susan Michie of University College London argues that pubs and gyms should be closed again in an attempt to get as close as possible to “zero Covid”. She is a member of the “Independent Sage” group set up to challenge the government’s official scientific advice, but it was notable that her comments echoed those of Prof Whitty, and of Professor Graham Medley, both members of the official Sage, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies. Prof Medley asked the question: “Do we think pubs are more important than schools?”

It is a rhetorical question, obviously, and if the evidence suggests that this is a choice that has to be made, The Independent would have no hesitation in saying that sacrifices elsewhere are justified to get children back into education. Opening schools is just too important to the health and wellbeing of the young people who are the country’s future.

The evidence about a resurgence of coronavirus is not yet conclusive, but the government is justified in taking a precautionary approach in local areas where there appear to be higher than average numbers of cases. And reopening schools will undoubtedly add slightly to the risk of more transmission.

Prof Michie is right, therefore, to say that time is short to make the test, trace and isolate system as effective as possible.

She points out that the requirement to isolate for 10 days after a positive test, and for other members of the household to isolate for 14 days, is voluntary, with little monitoring and no enforcement. She suggests people would be more likely to cooperate with the system if there were financial support and hotel accommodation for quarantine.

If the government is serious about controlling the virus, then it has to continue to suppress it to a level where outbreaks can be identified and contained. Given how important it is that schools reopen and that as many jobs can be saved as possible, that means being ready to shut down other parts of society if necessary – and making sure that we have an effective test, trace and isolate system – until a vaccine is ready.