Catholic schools ban pupils who have visited China

Students who have recently visited China won’t be allowed to attend more than 150 Catholic schools until they’re cleared by a doctor.

A University of NSW student who returned to Sydney from Wuhan last week arrives at Westmead Hospital after testing positive to coronavirus. Picture: TNV

Students who have recently visited China will not be allowed to attend more than 150 Catholic schools in Sydney until they are cleared by a doctor, as more private schools go against government advice in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

In a letter to parents on Tuesday, Sydney Catholic Schools executive director Tony Farley told them any children who have visited China since December would need to present a doctor’s certificate before they were let back into class.

The decision by Sydney Catholic Schools goes against federal and NSW Health advice – backed by federal education minister Dan Tehan – to allow any children who do not show coronavirus symptoms to attend school.

“A small number of school principals have notified the Sydney Catholic Schools’ office indicating that some students in their school have indeed visited China over the holiday period,” Mr Farley wrote to parents

“In the interest of prioritising the health and welfare of our students and our community, the following protocols will be in place to start the new year:

“If you have visited China anytime in December to now, please refrain from sending your children to school until they have been checked and cleared by a doctor. During this time, you

should be alert for symptoms related to a fever or other respiratory symptoms.

“A doctor’s certificate will be required prior to your children returning to school. Please contact the principal directly if this is the case.

“If you have not visited China, but your children are exhibiting any flu-like symptoms, please

refrain from sending them to school until they have recovered.”

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Sydney Catholic Schools administers 152 Catholic schools across Australia’s biggest city.

Mr Tehan has chastised private schools who are telling Chinese students and other pupils who have visited China to stay home to avoid spreading the coronavirus.

Elite schools in Sydney and Melbourne are isolating pupils who have recently visited China or telling them to stay away for at least a fortnight, while other schools are demanding medical certificates as the school year begins this week.

But the Minister said schools should be following federal health department advice that all students should be going to school unless they have coronavirus symptoms or had contact with someone with signs of the virus.

Mr Tehan said on Tuesday that Australia must “send a message” that the country is still open to international students, and all schools should follow the advice that pupils must be in class.

Private school virus response wrong: Tehan

Education Minister Dan Tehan has chastised private schools who are telling Chinese students and other pupils who have visited China to stay home to avoid spreading the coronavirus.

Elite schools in Sydney and Melbourne are isolating pupils who have recently visited China or telling them to stay away for at least a fortnight, while other schools are demanding medical certificates as the school year begins this week.

But the Minister said schools should be following federal health department advice that all students should be going to school unless they have coronavirus symptoms or had contact with someone with signs of the virus.

Mr Tehan said on Tuesday that Australia must “send a message” that the country is still open to international students, and all schools should follow the advice that pupils must be in class.

“Individual schools make their own decisions but the advice from the Australian government is to follow our medical advice,” he told ABC radio. “We want to make sure that we continue to send a message that Australia is open for international students.

At least 106 people have been killed in China while confirmed cases in Hubei province are now totalling 2714 as the spread of the virus accelerates.

One prestigious Brisbane boarding school has advised parents that 10 Chinese students will be isolated in a separate living area for the next fortnight and required to undergo daily medical checks before attending classes, while a number of elite Sydney and Melbourne colleges have said students who have been to regions affected by the disease will need to prove their health ­before returning to school by obtaining a doctors certificate.

Parents of students of ­Stuartholme private school in Brisbane have been told one student, who lives near the city of Wuhan, will not be returning until a quarantine on the region is lifted. Another 10 Chinese boarders will be isolated in a separate living area for two weeks, although they will be able to attend classes with other students if they pass a morning assessment by a nurse. None is showing signs of infection.

In the email sent to parents on Monday, Stuartholme principal Kristen Sharpe said the school was being proactive in its response to the disease and had followed advice from Queensland Health.

“At this stage, we can confirm with you that one of our Chinese students, who resides within the quarantine area, will not be ­returning to Stuartholme until the quarantine is lifted,” Ms Sharpe said. “Under the advice of Queensland Health, our returning students will be isolated to their own floor of the Boarding House for a period of 14 days.

“Every day, the nurses from our Health Centre will undertake a medical assessment of the students to check for any signs of illness. During the 14-day period, students will be allowed to attend classes. Please remember that they will only be allowed to do this, if they have not presented with any signs of being unwell during the morning assessment.”

Pymble Ladies College in Sydney’s north told parents in a text message not to send their daughters to school for at least 14 days after returning to Australia from an affected area of China, or after contact with someone who had visited an affected area.

Other Sydney private schools, including Scots College, Ravenswood, Kambala, St Aloysius’ College and Newington College, told parents students who had visited affected regions in China must provide a doctor’s clearance. Scots College also cancelled ­Chinese New Year celebrations.

In Melbourne, Carey Grammar principal Jonathan Walter said the school was following advice from the federal health department and asked children returning from affected regions to observe a 14-day isolation period. Mr Walter also advised parents to seek medical advice immediately if their child develops any flu-like symptoms.

Wesley College principal Nick Evans emailed families on Monday also asking parents to consider delaying their child’s return to school if they had travelled to affected regions in China. “The containment of such a virus is dependent on individual behaviour,” he said.

He said children would have needed to return by January 14 and be clear of symptoms by January 28.

Firbank Grammar School has also sent a letter to parents saying students who have visited China, or have come in contact with someone who has and is exhibiting flu-like symptoms to “remain in China, or self-isolate” for two weeks from contact or date of arrival.

Melbourne’s Xin Jin Shan Chinese Language School has postponed the beginning of the school year altogether by a week because of concerns of a coronavirus outbreak, while elite private school Scotch College also contacted parents in English and Chinese.

In Western Australia, independent schools wrote to parents urging them to keep students at home for at least 10 days if they have travelled through the Wuhan area during the school holidays.

The steps came as a Sydney university student, who has been living in campus accommodation, on Monday became the fifth person in Australia confirmed to have contracted the disease.

The 21-year-old woman, who arrived in Sydney last Thursday on China Eastern flight MU749 from Wuhan — the last plane to leave the epicentre of the epidemic for Australia before the city of 11 million people was locked down – was being treated at Westmead Hospital in Sydney’s west. The University of NSW said the student had not had close contact with others since returning to the student accommodation in preparation for the start of the academic year.

Health Minister Greg Hunt on Tuesday morning confirmed that the five people in Australia with coronavirus are in a stable condition in isolation and are “being well cared for.”

Mr Hunt said the government would continue to follow the advice of the World Health Organisation, and tried to assure Australians that the country has “some of the strongest border security measures from around the world”.

“We have followed the expect advice at every step,” he told Sky News.

“We have agriculture officials, biosecurity officials boarding all planes from China. Providing information and also speaking with passengers, looking for signs, looking for symptoms.

“We are moving at the fastest possible pace to ensure that everything that can be done is being done.”

Along with the latest confirmed carrier of the disease, three men, aged 35, 43 and 53, are being treated in Westmead Hospital for coronavirus. Another man in his 50s is in isolation in Melbourne’s Monash Medical Centre, while four of his family members remain in quarantine at home. A further 25 people are undergoing tests for the virus across the country.

China’s National Health Commission warned the disease was still mutating and its trans­missibility growing in strength. While all flights in and out of Wuhan have been grounded, 41 flights from other areas of China arrived in Australia on Monday, raising concerns about outbreaks of the disease.

Beijing recorded its first death on Monday while the number of suspected cases doubled over a 24-hour period to nearly 6000. The youngest infected patient was a nine-month-old baby being treated in Beijing.

The federal government is under increasing pressure to ­repatriate hundreds of Australians, including about 100 children, trapped in Wuhan. Airports in the city have been shut down and roads cut off as the Chinese government tries to contain the spread of the virus.

On Tuesday, Mr Hunt said about 400 people have registered for help to get out of a Chinese province under lockdown because of the deadly coronavirus. He said there has been “significant progress” in the government’s attempts to get these Australians out of Hubei province.

“Significant progress has been made overnight and we are exploring all options with the

Chinese authorities both to ensure that there is support and care for Australians on the ground and that there is a pathway to returning them home,” he said.

“I want to thank the embassy and the Chinese authorities and we will continue to ensure that we have strong broader protection, the highest quality medical care in the world and action to protect and secure those Australians who are in Hubei Province in China.”

It comes as the US Department of State confirmed it had arranged to charter a flight from Wuhan on Wednesday to evacuate US government personnel.

“AAS space is available, seating will be offered to US citizens on a reimbursable basis to leave from Wuhan Tianhe International Airport to Ontario, California,” a state department spokesman said. “All travellers will be screened for symptoms at the airport prior to departure. Priority will be given to vulnerable individuals at higher risk from coronavirus: small adults and persons with other health conditions that put them at greater risk. If such individuals are accompanied by family members who are not at greater risk, the families should be allowed to travel together.”

Japan and France have also indicated they will fly citizens out of the city.

Scott Morrison convened an urgent national security committee meeting on Monday ­afternoon to review Australia’s ­response to coronavirus, which ­includes having biosecurity officials meet every incoming flight from China and providing passengers with ­information sheets, asking them to identify themselves if they are unwell.

Powerful crossbench senators Pauline Hanson and Centre Alliance’s Rex Patrick have criticised the toughness of the government’s anti-coronavirus border measures, with Senator Hanson calling for the borders to be closed to all Chinese people from virus-struck areas.

The health crisis is also set to harm the tourism industry, after Beijing announced a two-month ban on tour groups travelling overseas in an effort to control the spread of the virus. Thousands of Chinese tourists planning to travel to Australia in February and March will be forced to cancel trips, which could cost the Australian tourism industry tens of millions of dollars.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING: TESSA AKERMAN, IMOGEN REID, KIERAN GAIR, LACHLAN MOFFET GRAY