A “whole host of children have been lost to the pandemic” as schools remaining closed has meant vulnerable pupils have lost contact with authorities and social services, experts have warned. As the Government is facing pressure to get children back into the classroom as quickly as possible, experts are warning that children being away from school is keeping them “hidden” from social services, with some more disadvantaged than others. Psychiatrist Dr Bernadka Dubicka said: “It’s the hidden ones that worry me the most, the ones that I’m not seeing and the ones that nobody is seeing.” The chair of the child and adolescent faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists told the PA news agency: “There’s a whole host of children that have been lost to this pandemic, perhaps who are being abused in the home or who are living in really traumatic circumstances that have just lost contact with their teachers and other sources of support.”