29 Jan 2020
Welcome back to an exciting year of teaching and learning. Please take note of the latest important information regarding the Coronavirus.
The NSW Ministry of Health and NSW Department of Education have recommended that any student who was travelling in China (including Hong Kong) over the past 14 days should not return to school or child care services this week, as the coronavirus’ incubation period can be as long as two weeks.
Students who returned to Australia more than 14 days ago and have shown no symptoms are able to return to school this week.
There have been a small number of cases of confirmed Novel Coronavirus in New South Wales – only 5 as of this morning.
In accordance with national public health guidelines, exclusions only apply for those who are a:
· Confirmed case of Novel Coronavirus – exclude until medically cleared
· Close contact of a confirmed case of Novel Coronavirus – exclude for 14 days since last contact with the confirmed case
Close contact is defined as living in the same household, 15 minutes face-to-face contact with a person with confirmed coronavirus in any setting, or sharing a closed space with a person with confirmed coronavirus for more than 2 hours.
The Ministry of Health has processes in place to identify any close contacts of cases confirmed in Australia. Advice about not attending school would be provided to these close contacts by the Ministry of Health.
Consistent with current guidelines, staff and students who are unwell with respiratory illness should remain at home until symptoms resolve. In accordance with our current practice if any child becomes unwell we will implement our infection control guidelines and follow the advice provided by the Ministry of Health as appropriate.
We will continue to monitor the situation closely and take advice received from NSW Ministry of Health and NSW Department of Education to ensure we are responding to the situation appropriately.
Translated information – for Chinese parents and families:
If you are after a translation of the NSW Health FAQ for Chinese families, you will find it at this link - https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/factsheets/Factsheets/novel-coronavirus-sc.pdf
The risk of contracting the Novel Coronavirus is extremely unlikely. I ask that families reconsider the need for face masks. As no students or staff who have been to China over the holidays within the last 14 days are attending school, face masks are not required. No staff are wearing masks and I ask that students reconsider the need for these masks.
I remind everybody that people do not need to be of Chinese background to have visited this amazing country. Students of Chinese backgrounds have not necessarily been to China or Hong Kong.
Thank you for maintaining calm and perspective during this time. School will operate as normal for all students. Only students who qualify for the above criteria will qualify for the exemption to attend school. There is no need to keep your child at home for 14 days as a precaution.
Kind regards
Murray Kitteringham
Principal