What happens when Covid hits classrooms?

Masks will remain optional and schools will largely remain open – but who will quarantine and for how long is not clear.

THE closure of schools or classes when a Covid-19 case is detected will be decided individually, the state government says.

“We will have different scenarios for different circumstances,” Education Minster John Gardner said on Tuesday.

“It’s different for a student who sat next to a Covid case for a lesson, and for someone who was on the other side of the school.”

The Education Department will have a specialist contact-tracing team to work with SA Health’s communicable disease control branch if a case is found in any school, preschool or childcare centre.

A teacher would only quarantine if there was “direct contact” with a confirmed case.

If a student is in quarantine, their parents must quarantine with them until their first negative test.

The system for dealing with cases in schools was announced as the government warned teachers they must be vaccinated. By December 10, all workers in public and private schools and early childhood settings must have had their first vaccination dose and had, or booked, a second.

Education Department chief executive Rick Persse said closing schools would depend on the circumstances of the Covid case.

“We’re working through this with SA Health, what we do depends on the context. If it was a large school and teachers circulating through lots of students, we will take that into account,” he said.

“It’s possible that a high school would be more likely to close than a primary school.

“If there was a case, the school would wait for advice from SA Health.”

Mr Gardner said schools would aim to open the next day if they were closed, but that would depend on SA Health advice.

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said the people required to quarantine would be those who had been in direct contact with a case.

“There are a multitude of scenarios where things will apply differently,” he said.

Masks will remain optional in schools and visitors, including parents, will be allowed on school grounds.

Interstate camps are not recommended, even when borders with NSW, Victoria and the ACT open on November 23. Camps and excursions within South Australia can go ahead subject to risk assessment and Covid-19 planning.

A ventilation audit in all SA schools and a trial of air purifiers are continuing. Opposition education spokesman Blair Boyer has previously lambasted the expected December completion date for the audit.

Mr Gardner said many schools would need to do nothing more than open doors and windows for proper ventilation.