Asked about the rollout of mass testing in secondary schools, Dr Mary Bousted said the preparations were “equally chaotic”.
Test supplies are due to be delivered to schools on Monday, and Dr Bousted said a secondary school with 1,000 pupils will need approximately 21 trained volunteers to carry it out.
She told BBC Breakfast: “We don’t think it’s the job of schools to be doing this, they have a job to do and that’s educating children.
“We believe this should be a public health organised event, we think that just as the Government at the beginning of the pandemic got a million volunteers to help with the health service, we think the Government should be advertising for volunteers and it should be public health leading this because it’s a public health duty to do that.
“Schools are going to find this incredibly difficult to get this up and running in time and to do it as well as public health would be doing it because they’re the health professionals.”
