Ministers turned a blind eye to the negative impact of forcing children to wear face masks in schools, leaked documents show. It has been mandatory since March for secondary school pupils in England to wear coverings when social distancing is not possible, including in classes and corridors. That is despite teenagers being at a very low risk of Covid and millions of tests being deployed in schools every week. Public Health England documents seen by The Telegraph said officials 'expressly did not consider any potential disbenefits of the policy' prior to its introduction. Campaign groups say they have received multiple reports of children suffering both mental and physical harm as a result of wearing a mask for up to eight hours a day.