CDU plans for on campus and remote learning

The current Covid-19 outbreak has the Territory’s university planning its on-campus vs remote learning plans.

CHARLES Darwin University students wondering whether they’ll be relegated to remote learning in 2022 can rest assured the uni is planning mostly on-campus teaching.

In a statement released on Friday, the uni said its critical incident management team das been carefully considering CDU’s approach to the rising Covid-19 case numbers.

“We are doing what we can to respond with agility to a rapidly evolving situation,” the statement read.

“Staff are working to minimise face-to-face requirements where possible, and observe high safety standards for in-person delivery, including check-in, social distancing, hand hygiene and mask-wearing.

“At this stage we are planning for delivery on-campus to proceed as planned for Term 1 and 2 and Semester 1.

“However, Covid-19 impacts and requirements are rapidly changing in each of our geographic locations, and so we will be closely monitoring the situation in each region and considering remote delivery if necessary.”

Staff are encouraged to consider working from home between now and January 28.

The university currently has 16 positive Covid-19 cases, including the Vice-Chancellor.

Acting Vice-Chancellor Anne Coulter said Professor Schott Bowman and his wife Anita had tested positive after returning to the NT from interstate.

“Both Professor Bowman and his wife are in isolation and are recovering and doing well,” Ms Coulter said.

“Professor Bowman will resume Vice-Chancellor duties next week as planned but will be working remotely.”

As a result of the pandemic and to stop the spread of COVID-19 some staff at CDU will be given the option to work remotely until January 28.

Positive cases at a Zuccoli early learning centre

UPDATE: CHILDREN at a Zuccoli Early Learning Centre have tested positive for Covid-19, making that three early learning centres in the past 24 hours.

Posted to Facebook three children tested positive on January 10. The notification said all children who attended the centre that day would be considered close contacts.

Furthermore an indoor play centre has closed after two staff members tested positive to Covid-19.

The Playshack Indoor Play Centre and Cafe in Palmerston posted to Facebook on Friday morning, notifying customers it would be temporarily closed.

The post read “sadly two of our staff members while returned a negative result after their last shift...[they] have now returned a positive result to Covid.”

Four other staff members who had worked with positive cases had since returned negative RAT tests however the Play centre made the decision remain closed for deep cleaning.

“This will allow a full 7 days from our last contact with them to be certain that we are safe to resume work,” the Facebook post read.

The notification comes after cases continue to rise in the Territory and the government has stopped releasing exposure sites.

The Play Centre post was shared to a new community run page that encourages the public to share exposure sites across the Top End.

Top End Exposure Sites has already had more than 3200 people join.

Posts made to the page are encouraged to help raise the visibility of public exposure sites and reduce the spread of Covid-19.

EARLIER: EDUCATORS and young children have tested positive in connection to Darwin and Palmerston day care centre, as parents are warned to watch for the signs of infection.

The Charles Darwin’s University childcare centre and Tiny Town Children’s Centre, Durack, have both reported positive Covid cases.

A child and an unrelated parent who attended the Palmerston centre have reportedly tested positive for Covid.

In a message of parents and carers on Wednesday Tiny Town Children’s Centre said two parents of children enrolled at the facility had called to confirm their positive results.

“All our educators throughout toady are undergoing PCR tests and will get RAT tests as well to continue to monitor the situation,” the message said.

They asked carers to keep their kids at home if they had any symptoms, including coughing or a runny nose.

“As a community we have to make sure we are looking after each other,” Tiny Town said.

Tiny Town Children’s Centre and NT Health has been contacted for further comment.

Secure NT has stopped reporting public exposure sites, and anyone who attended the centre during is expected to be sent a text reminding them to monitor for symptoms.

It comes as the CDU centre announced on Thursday it would be closed for the next two days, after a staff member tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday, January 12.

The centre will be thoroughly cleaned and will reopen next week.

Children and staff who attended the centre on Monday, January 10 should follow health advice and if they are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and are a close contact should immediately quarantine.

CDU have advised parents who wish to discuss childcare fees over the shutdown period should contact the centre.

The childcare centre exposures were revealed as national cabinet discussed the potential for school to become superspreader sites.

Under the current CHO orders, anyone including children, who spent more than 4 hours in an indoor setting with the positive case are considered a close contact.

Staff and children at the centre who are considered a close contact are advised to take a Rapid Antigen Test.

Staff at the centre have been asked to return a negative RAT or PCR test before they return to work. Parents are asked to monitor their children for symptoms before bringing them back into the centre.

THURSDAY AFTERNOON NATIONAL CABINET UPDATE: PM’s announces schools to return on time

Scott Morrison has blasted those who think they can get Covid and get over it by going to a party, as he revealed changes to Covid-19 rules for essential workers.

The Prime Minister said the definition of close contact has been eased to ensure more workers can get back to their day jobs.

“To further ease the pressure on supply chains, we extended the easing of restrictions for close contacts,” he said.

“That is the one which enable someone who may be a close contact and get a negative rapid antigen test … they can go straight back to work. The most immediate extension to that is to all transport, freight and logistics employees.

“Not just those directly involved in food distribution, all in the transport, freight and logistics centre. That will include those who work at service stations,” he said.

“We will also be extending it to if it hasn’t already been done, in many cases it has, it will cover all healthcare and support.

“Emergency services, including law enforcement, correctional services, energy resources and water, waste management. Food, beverage and other critical good supplies.

“The food distribution system and production system, I am talking about hospitality, telecommunications, data, broadcasting and media. It will also extend to education and childcare.”

Mr Morrison revealed Australia could soon have one in two workers off sick.

“We heard today from a Treasury Secretary that we could be looking at and up to 10 per cent absenteeism from our workforce, at any one time at its peak,” he said.

He said restrictions could not have been loosened in the critical workforce until now because the severity of the Omicron strain was not known.

“Once we became aware that the severity was less, that has enabled us to move that we can relax some restrictions in critical workforces,” he said.

“So this is a constant daily process of balancing the need to keep people at work and to protect our hospitals. And that is why (the advice) changes almost daily.”

Mr Morrison said the objective in this phase of the pandemic was to minimise serious illness, hospitalisations and fatalities and to maintain restrictions to support that goal.

He said preventing everyone in Australia getting the virus was “not the objective … this is not a realistic objective and it’s not practical”.

“What we’re trying to achieve is to ensure that we can keep hospitals under the least pressure they can possibly be put on them,” he said.

“That we can maintain the strength of other hospitals do this pandemic and recognise that, of course, our hospitals and health systems are under significant strain at the present. That is unavoidable.”

The workforce changes discussed at national cabinet was a “critical discussion”, he told reporters in Canberra. He described changes being made as part of a “constantly moving target”.

He said closing schools would just add to absenteeism.

“If schools don’t open, that can add an additional five per cent of the absenteeism in the work force,” he said.

“It is absolutely essential for schools to go back safely and remain safely open if we are not going to see any further exacerbation of the workforce challenges we are currently facing.

“All is open means shops open. Schools open means hospitals are open. It means aged care facilities are open. It means essential services, groceries are on the shelves.”

Mr Morrison said he did not want any child turned away at a childcare centre.

“Responses must be proportionate and health risk based, childcare services and schools are equipped to respond on the basis of public health advice, and support from public health authorities were required and well being of children and education staff to be supported,” he said, noting South Australia and Queensland had delayed the start of the school year, but wanted no child of essential workers “ turned away”.

“Supporting essential workers and education and childcare will be important and the Commonwealth and states are working together to have 50-50 funding arrangements in place to ensure that is put in place by the time school comes back and we will have more to say about that next week,” he said.

Mr Morrison had tasked the First Secretaries Group to develop a national framework to enable students to return to school on day one of term one.

He wanted consistent rules across all jurisdictions and for schools to “go back and stay back”.

THURSDAY MORNING: THE return to school will be the top of the agenda when national cabinet meets on Thursday.

A number of state officials have raised concerns that the return to school will become a superspreader event but Chief Minister Michael Gunner pushed back, saying children now had access to at least one dose of the vaccine.

“We have a vaccine now for school aged children and every Territory school student will have the opportunity to be first-dose vaccinated before the school year starts,” Mr Gunner said.

“It’s critical during an emergency that our children are safe and have certainty and live as normal a life as possible. We’ve done that for the past two years and it’s critical we continue to do this.”

Mr Gunner said schools should be among the last places to be closed and the first places to re-open.

Last week Prime Minister Scott Morrison tasked the First Secretaries Group to develop a national framework that would ensure a consistent plan across Australia for the return to school.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison wants one set of rules for schools returning. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

He wanted one set of rules across all jurisdictions and for schools to “go back and stay back”.

The group is set to present their framework at Thursday’s meeting.

After last week’s national cabinet, Mr Morrison said the group’s report would include “everything from the testing arrangements that have been put in place, any furloughing issues that need to arise, matters relating to workplace health and safety, matters relating to rates of vaccination and a series of other issues”.

But Queensland has already told students they won’t return to the classroom until February 7, two weeks later than originally planned.

From January 24, students in years 11 and 12 will return to remote learning.

The decision came after modelling showed the Omicron wave would peak in Queensland in the last week of January and first week of February, with authorities loath to send unvaccinated children back to school while that was happening.

NSW is sticking to the scheduled start on January 28, as is Victoria, despite troubling Omicron waves in both states. The ACT will follow suit.

Tasmania plans for a February 9 return, the Northern Territory is scheduled to return on February 1 and WA is also looking to start on January 31.

South Australia also is scheduled to start the term on January 31, but the government is under pressure from teachers to match Queensland’s delay.

Originally published as CDU plans for on campus and remote learning