NSW RAT scheme in schools to be reviewed after two weeks

RATs will be distributed to families in a “military operation” for school testing – but the program could undergo change.

The mass-surveillance of NSW school kids with a twice-weekly Covid test will be reviewed after a fortnight of term starting amid “mixed” health advice, as experts warn there’s no point in a program that unnecessarily confuses parents.

More than 80 per cent of the state’s schools now have a supply of rapid antigen tests (RATs) to distribute to families in a “military operation” over the next month, but The Daily Telegraph understands the program will be monitored for the first two weeks, with the government to assess then whether any changes should be made.

Importantly, RATs to cover two tests per week will continue to be provided for at least the first four weeks of term to give anxious parents and teachers a confidence boost.

Logan Hudson, 6, from Box Hill who is starting year 1, is one of thousands of NSW students to be given a rapid antigen test twice a week. Picture: Jonathan Ng

But concerned parents believe the plan is onerous and unnecessary, while experts also fear a negative RAT could breed complacency about other measures to limit Covid-19 spread including social distancing and ventilation.

Premier Dominic Perrottet said 4.9 million RATs have been distributed to schools ahead of term one, which commences on January 28.

“We will ensure we have a safe environment on day one,” he said.

But in just one example causing confusion for parents, Mr Perrottet has repeatedly said the RATs “don’t need to be done on day one” of school, his Education Minister Sarah Mitchell has advised the opposite.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet says parents can give their child a RAT on any two days in a week. Picture: NCA NewsWire /Gaye Gerard

“We’re asking all of our students and staff to test before they come back to school for that first day,” Ms Mitchell said earlier this week.

On Thursday, Ms Mitchell said the RATs surveillance was recommended by The Doherty Institute as an “appropriate response to support face-to-face teaching and learning”.

“This modelling identified twice weekly testing as an appropriate frequency,” she said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week confirmed the advice from Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly and “across” the Australian Health Principal Protection Committee was “not a strong recommendation” backing surveillance testing most school kids.

“But there are other policy purposes the states need to consider to ensure their schools are open,” he said.

Health Brad Hazzard with 2022 interns at RNS Hospital in Sydney as experts say Sydney is passing the peak of Omicron cases and hospitalisations. Picture: Gaye Gerard

Director of Infectious Diseases at Mater Health Services Professor Paul Griffin said social distancing, ventilation and masks where age-appropriate were still going to be the most important for managing Covid in schools, even with a RAT program.

“People are overly reassured by false negatives, but that’s not really the intent of (a RAT) because the sensitivity isn’t enough,” he said.

“Really the key issue is there’s no point implementing a strategy that’s not feasible, because then it will become unmanageable.

Prof Griffin said above all, parents must understand the importance of keeping even mildly sick kids home.

The cost of the RATs supplied to schools for teachers and students will be shared 50/50 between the state and Commonwealth, but the actual dollar figure attached to the NSW program remains unknown due to commercial in-confidence.

NSW has ordered about 150 million RATs at an estimated cost of $1 billion, though only about 6.5 million tests would be required to supply every student in the state two per week for a month.

At national cabinet on Thursday leaders noted the likelihood of case numbers increasing as schools resumed, but figures show a stark difference between caseloads and intensive care admissions between the Delta and Omicron waves.

During the peak of the Delta wave on September 21, 244 people were in intensive care out of 13,028 active cases – a rate of 1.87 per cent.

As of Thursday, NSW had 181,527 active cases with 181 in ICU, a rate of 0.099 per cent.

Mr Perrottet said “there’s no doubt there’s fatigue” among doctors and nurses who had “worked tirelessly for two long years,” but backed NSW’s health system capacity to ride out the Omicron wave.

Mum Kye Hudson is happy for her kids Spencer-Rose and Logan to be returning to school. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Box Hill mum-of-two Kye Hudson said is excited to return to a sense of normality and routine once her son heads back to school next Wednesday but said the rapid antigen testing requirement “seems a little excessive.”

“To be honest I’m probably not going to do the test unless he’s showing symptoms which I feel like most people I’ve spoken to have said the same thing,” Mrs Hudson told The Daily Telegraph.

“I don’t know how they’re going to police it but I think it’s just going to have to come down to common sense.

“Obviously if my son were showing cold and flu symptoms or a fever I would test him and keep him home if he was sick.”

Mrs Hudson, owner of Sydney business Unreel Photo Booth, said despite the confusion surrounding the testing she was still “very ready for her kids to be returning to school.”

“I’m excited to get back to a routine and a bit of normality,” she said.