Coronavirus: Students warned to stay away from Gold Coast schools as fears grow of tourism impact

Students travelling from countries infected by the Coronavirus are being warned not to return to class this week as fears grow of a devastating impact on the Gold Coast’s tourism industry.

STUDENTS travelling from countries infected by the Coronavirus are being warned not to return to class this week, as schools are placed on high alert.

Trinity Lutheran College on the Gold Coast was the first to mitigate any spread of the potentially deadly virus, advising all students travelling from China to enter a two-week self-imposed quarantine.

The Bulletin has been advised that other Gold Coast schools such as Somerset College have followed suit by issuing a similar notice to students.

“Students who have returned from China, irrespective of the Chinese cities visited, as a precautionary measure to assist in containing the disease and to prevent its spread in our community, we ask that these students be in self-imposed quarantine for two weeks from the College upon return to Australian soil,” Principal Dr Tsae Wong wrote to parents yesterday.

People returning from affected countries are being urged to enter self-imposed quarantine. (AAP image, John Gass)

The school has also postponed an exchange with visiting students from Guangzhou China, set for next month.

State schools with international enrolments were contacted throughout the week regarding the virus, while yesterday all state schools were issued with a fact sheet on the disease.

Education Minister Grace Grace said the Department of Education have been in constant contact with Queensland Health over the weekend.

“The Department will continue to update Principals and school communities regularly so that parents can have the latest information,” Minister Grace said.

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Independent Schools Queensland Executive Director David Robertson said ISQ had drawn on latest advice from authorities and provided it to schools.

“Schools, like other educational institutions and workplaces, will assess their risk, which will be different for each school, and put in place relevant strategies, informed by the latest advice from health authorities,” Mr Robertson said.

Dr Katrina McLean Chair of General Practice Gold Coast said health care workers on the ground are vigilant, but not alarmed.

As a local GP she said she would also recommend families with children who have travelled to China to seek advice from a doctor before returning.

“Dealing with infectious diseases is something we are trained to do and prepared for,” Dr McLean said.

“The message is anyone who suspected they may be unwell or at risk, stay at home and phone for advice first. We want people calling the clinic or the hospital to ensure potential cases have minimal exposure.”

“It wasn’t that long ago there was a SARS outbreak that practices on the Gold Coast were responding to. It is not something really new, it is a matter of revisiting that process.’’

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Destination Gold Coast chief executive Annaliese Battista warned the city’s tourism industry would also take a hit from the “double-whammy” of the bushfire disaster and Coronavirus outbreak.

Ms Battista said both events occurring at the peak of the city’s summer tourism period meant things were “pretty grim” because of the likely impact on visitation from overseas markets.

“We have had a double whammy for the international market with the bushfires and the Chinese government formally saying outbound tourists are not allowed to travel from China until further notice.

“This is going to have an impact on the Gold Coast because China is our biggest overseas market so we will be looking at forms of mitigation.

Schools are on high alert. Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)

‘The first priority will be to ensure the safety of both locals and tourists.

“We will see an immediate impact obviously given Chinese New Year is a time when millions of people from China traditionally travel.”

More than 273,000 Chinese tourists came to the Gold Coast in the past financial year.

Ms Battista said strategies were being discussed on how to keep the tourism market booming and this includes tapping into the lucrative Kiwi market.

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“In the next financial year we will really need to look the hole this has created in the market,” she said.

“We will look at focusing on the core domestic market and spreading our activities to unaffected markets such as New Zealand, ones which are already familiar with the Gold Coast.

“We can make it clear we are unaffected by the fires and that nobody is infected with Coronavirus here.”

For information on coronavirus, contact 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84).