The Health Secretary stressed that the disease was not giving kids bad symptoms like it had done for adults.
But he dodged a direct question on whether this would mean parents would be fined for keeping them at home.
Andrew from Leeds asked him at the beginning of the coronavirus press conference at No10: “When lockdown measures are lifted, will there be fines if parents kids off school?
“And how will you make sure the public is confident it’s safe?”
Mr Hancock re-assured Andrew that schools will only be allowed to re-open when it is “safe” to do so.
But he did not directly address the question of whether concerned parents may be fined for keeping their kids at home over coronavirus fears.
He said: “We will only do it when it is safe to do so. We are not going to reopen schools if it isn’t safe.
“When we reopen schools, our goal will be to get back to the norm and the position it was before.
“I am confident that because we will only do it when its safe, it will then be reasonable and become normal again to send children to school.
“The reason we had to take the decision to close schools was the impact on transmission, not on safety of children.”
It comes after today a fresh poll showed that 48 per cent of people would feel uncomfortable doing so, even after the measures are changed.
HOAR revealed this week that ministers want to try and send kids back to school in some places before the end of the summer term, in July.
Steve Powis from NHS England tried to reassure the public that for children there was usually only ever a very mild disease, and experts are studying the science carefully.
He added: “We do need to be cautious when thinking about opening schools.
“The key thing is, this is not a serious disease for the vast majority of children and younger people.”
The news came as Mr Hancock revealed he had smashed his 100,000 a day testing target, with more than 120,000 in the last 24 hours.
But he did admit that 27,000 of those are home kits which had gone out, and the results may not have been sent back yet, with the results unknown.
Reopening schools poses a “significant risk” of second wave of coronavirus outbreak, a study warned today.
US and Chinese research warned children are equally susceptible to the virus as ministers said students would be “phased” back into class when schools eventually come back.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson yesterday said that no date has been set for when schools will be back up and running fully.
But he hinted some year groups – like reception kids – could be the first to return to class.
Simon Clarke, professor in cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, said the recent study showed schools could spread the virus despite kids being less effected by the bug.
He told The Times: “As children are carriers, reopening schools could expose parents, grandparents and teachers to infection and in turn anyone they might come into contact with risking a second wave.”
The study, published in The Lancet, analysed the 1,286 close contacts of 391 people in Shenzhen, China.
It found that the same proportion of children caught the bug as adults and older children, despite not showing symptoms.
The researchers stated that “children might be an important target for interventions aimed at reducing transmission, even if they do not get sick”.
Schools have been shut nationwide since March 18 – three days before the full lockdown was revealed by Boris Johnson.
Yesterday Professor Chris Whitty said there was still work to do to find out how kids can spread the virus.
He suggested that schools won’t reopen until they know more.
