BBC News
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image captionGovernment advice on wearing masks in schools is due to change on Monday in England
Secondary school pupils and college students in parts of north-west England will continue wearing masks because of concerns about the Covid-19 Indian variant.
Pupils and students across Lancashire are being advised to use face coverings until 21 June. Bolton and Bury councils have also said masks will remain.
The Indian variant has been detected in Bolton, Greater Manchester, in Blackburn, Lancashire and in Sefton, Merseyside, which have all seen rates rise rapidly.
In a coronavirus briefing, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the variant could pose serious disruption to lockdown easing in England on 21 June, but added that he did not believe that the present evidence showed a need to delay the next stage in the easing of lockdown in England on Monday.
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