Government’s Covid rules blamed for Camp Rumbug outbreak

Organisers of the school camp linked to Victoria’s largest outbreak say there should have been stricter mask and testing rules for kids.

The school camp linked to the state’s biggest Covid outbreak has called for better infection control rules among students.

PGL Adventure is the body that runs Camp Rumbug, which has been linked to 47 cases, and said staff adhered to strict infection guidelines.

But current Department of Education guidelines state face masks are not mandatory for students in grade three to six and primary school staff when attending school camps or excursions.

The company said it would “like to see higher vigilance with students wearing masks in indoor areas at camps, and on busses while travelling to and from the camp”.

“Rapid antigen testing prior to students departing on camp can also prevent potentially serious outbreaks,” it said in a statement.

The camp said it had been notified of five schools with a positive covid case while on site with no transmission.

But it admitted that in the case of two schools – understood to be Armadale Primary and Brunswick North West Primary – who were both onsite between December 8 to 10 – “infection has spread despite all of our protocols in place”.

“We do not yet know if, or how, the infection transmitted between the two schools who shared the site. We are working with the Department of Health as it conducts its investigations and we will commit to carrying out any recommendations,” the PGL Adventure statement said.

Victoria’s testing centres have been overrun as Covid continues to spread before Christmas. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

“We were notified on Monday, 13th of December that a school that attended Camp Rumbug on 8 to 10 December has returned positive Covid tests. The students from this school had become symptomatic on Friday 10th December,” it said.

“We were also notified that the other school on site has positive cases among the students. On notification, PGL immediately ceased activity and sent all our staff for PCR testing. Unfortunately, this meant that we cancelled camps for students who were intending to travel in the week from 13-17th December, but this meant that there was no possibility of potential transmission to new schools.”

The company said it had “rigorous” infection control and hand washing protocols in place and that staff have complied fully with DHS requirements acted swiftly to prevent any further transmission.

There are now six positive cases among the PGL Adventure staff and a few household contacts.

“Our thoughts are with all of the people impacted by this outbreak, especially at this time of year,” the company said.

The DHHS website lists Camp Rumbug as having 47 cases and both Armdale and Brunswick North West Primary Schools as having 27 cases each.

A camp staff member said she believed the numbers were not accurate and involved double counting of cases.

PARENTS’ FURY OVER INFECTED KIDS

Dozens of Victorian families have been forced to cancel Christmas after their children caught Covid at a school camp.

Furious parents claim a failure to follow Covid protocols led to the outbreak.

A mother of a year four student said parents asked for children on the camp to all undergo rapid antigen tests before they got on the bus but this did not happen.

“I for one assumed that kids would need to wears masks, have hand sanitiser, and that sick kids would be monitored – similar practice to the school environment,” she said.

“Kids were sick during the camp and left unmonitored, there was no hand-washing prompts and no hand sanitiser.”

The camp is run by PGL Adventure and the company’s infection control policy said it had implemented a wide range of Covid control measures.

But the mother said the camp “followed none of these policies and compromised our children’s mental and physical health”.

Dozens of families have been forced to isolate after the school camp outbreak. Picture: Ian Currie

A letter from Brunswick North West Primary principal Hannah Reid to parents said an investigation into the students’ exposure at the camp was continuing.

“I am communicating with the principal of the other school at the campsite and we are sharing pertinent information (no personal information) in order to have as much of the whole picture as possible. We are also connecting our regional contacts in both the Departments of Education and Health,” she wrote.

“We believe the school and our families deserve answers to how this level of exposure was possible and we want to understand any potential risks so we are able to put precautionary measures in place for the future – at a school and DET level, as well as with camp programs,” she said.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Education said the two schools “who attended the camp in question at the end of this term did not share cabins, bathrooms, meeting rooms or structured activities. Kitchen and dining facilities were used at different times”.

“No students displayed symptoms at the time of departing for camp,” she said.

There are now more than 700 cases linked to Victorian schools.