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There is "absolutely no reason" schools in England will not be ready to mass test pupils when they return next term, the education secretary has said.
Gavin Williamson said he wanted school closures to be as "short as possible" after delaying their reopening.
It comes as people are being warned to avoid New Year's Eve celebrations amid surging coronavirus cases.
Some 20 million people in England have been told to "stay at home" after tier four was expanded at midnight.
They join the 24 million already in the toughest restrictions.
On Wednesday, Mr Williamson announced that secondary schools across most of England are to remain closed for an extra two weeks for most pupils, to help regain control of coronavirus.
Primary school pupils in at-risk areas will also not return to school as planned on Monday - when term is due to start.
The education secretary told BBC Breakfast that remote learning would be "mandatory" from the week commencing 11 January for all secondary students, other than years 11 and 13 who would physically return to school on that date.
He said there was £78m of funding for schools, equipment such as personal protective equipment (PPE) and support from the military would help them get mass testing programmes set up in time.
Primary schools in the worst hit areas will not reopen with a review of their closures every two weeks.
Mr Williamson said more than 85% of primary schools were reopening on Monday and said he wanted any closures to be "short".
from Via PakapNews