A LEADING scientist has warned that the new strain of coronavirus has "changed the game" of getting children back to school.

In Wales, children will return to school on a staggered basis after the Christmas break.

Online learning will continue at the beginning of term, with schools expected to provide face-to-face learning for the majority of pupils by January 11.

By January 18, a full return to the classroom is expected.

But Dr Zubaida Haque, a former deputy director of race equality think tank the Runnymeade Trust, told Good Morning Britain: “Children need to be in school but they need to be in a safe school.

“We have a new variant now and, just as we’ve got a vaccine coming around the corner, this variant has changed the game; not only is it 70 per cent more transmissible but, with children, it explains why infection rates were so high just before Christmas.

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“With children, we think (the new strain) makes them more infectious. Now, that’s a huge problem because schools are little children mixing factories – there are lots of children in small buildings, in small classes.”

Speaking before Christmas, Dr Chris Jones, deputy chief medical officer for Wales, said the new strain was spreading quickly across Wales.

He said: "We have seen a number of mutations since the SARS-Cov-2 virus was first identified in Wuhan just over a year ago.

"This new strain of the coronavirus is concerning.

"This new strain appears to be much more infectious than the strain which originated in Wuhan and is more easily transmitted from person to person."