The NSW government is pushing for most restrictions to be relaxed in schools, allowing parents back on school grounds and year groups to mix for choirs, assemblies and sporting teams.
Despite masks not being compulsory in offices from Friday, they are required in secondary schools and recommended for primary students in year three and above for now., including QR check-in requirements, density limits in pubs and restaurants and work from home orders. More freedoms will be granted this week when mask rules are eased and the 20,000-person limit on music festivals are lifted, with singing and dancing also allowed.
“The packs are there for families and staff to use at their discretion for their own peace of mind, for example, when a student is feeling unwell with a sore throat or cough, or if family members are sick,” NSW Perrottet Dominic Perrottet said.Advertisementshowed that in Term 4 last year, three to four per cent of people exposed to a positive case in school and early childhood centres caught the virus compared to around 70 per cent in residential settings.
“In high schools onward transmission was lower, likely a result of strong COVID-19 vaccine uptake by staff and children aged 12 years and over, as well as other prevention strategies.”Professor Fiona Russell of the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute said “it is inappropriate for children to continue to be masked in classrooms when adults no longer need to wear masks at work”.