Ministers are facing a fresh row over schools amid warnings keeping classrooms open could hamper efforts to stop the spread of the virus. 

Professor Andrew Hayward, who advises the Government’s SAGE committee, said it was clear there was “substantial transmission” in secondary schools and keeping them open could prolong the second national lockdown. 

More than 150,000 teachers and support staff have backed a call to shut schools and colleges by the National Education Union, which described classrooms as “an engine for virus transmission”. 

But the Government and Labour are insisting education settings should stay open to mitigate the devastating hit to children’s education from time away from the classroom.

Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield previously said that closure would be “a disaster” for children’s wellbeing and education. 

Prof Hayward, an expert in infectious diseases epidemiology at University College London, told the BBC: “I think it’s clear that there is substantial transmission within secondary schools.

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"And we are of course needing to prioritise education and we know that children who are infected in schools are very unlikely to have severe consequences.

“But I think one of the consequences of not closing secondary schools would be that we may need to be in lockdown for longer than we might otherwise have to be.”

But Dr Susan Hopkins, deputy director of Public Health England, said children were mostly infected in their households.

She added: “We have also agreed that we want our children to be in education, that we think that the damage done from a year of children’s education lost is too high for us to accept as a society.”

Kevin Courtney, NEU Joint General Secretary, called for an amendment to the lockdown plan to shut schools.

He said: “We have seen a fifty-fold increase in infections in secondary schools alone since September. Schools, clearly, are an engine for virus transmission.”

And the union ramped up pressure on ministers over to order teachers and pupils in secondary schools to wear masks, as in Scotland where older pupils must wear face coverings in areas with high infection rates.

Mr Courtney told the Mirror: “Given that face coverings are currently required in all communal areas in Tier 2 and 3 secondaries, it is not unreasonable to expect Gavin Williamson to adjust his position in light of national lockdown from Thursday. 

“A consistent approach is needed if we are to get the case count down dramatically in the next few weeks, but closing schools as part of lockdown would be far more effective in turning the tide.” 

Downing Street failed to rule out such a move, with the PM’s spokesman saying everything was kept “under review”. 

Meanwhile, more than 50 public health directors and healthcare professionals wrote to Rishi Sunak and Matt Hancock demanding additional funding for the Healthy Start scheme which helps poorer families to buy fruit and vegetables. 

A Department for Education spokesman said: “We are prioritising children’s and young people’s education and wellbeing, by keeping nurseries, schools, colleges and universities open.

“The chief and deputy chief medical officers have highlighted the risks of not being in education on their development and mental health.”