School term delay could ‘push omicron wave out further’: PM

As Queensland delays the start of school in a bid to ease pressures on the education and health systems, Prime Minister Scott Morrison warns the move risks just extending the omicron wave without changing the outcome. HAVE YOUR SAY IN OUR POLL

Queensland delaying the start of school risks just extending the omicron wave without changing the outcome, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has warned.

As the omicron wave continues to spread rapidly, Mr Morrison said “the best possible medical advice” was to push through, as the Covid variant begins to peak in other countries.

It comes as nation’s the medical advisory panel recommended on Monday that states should relax isolation rules for food supply chain staff to avoid shortages on supermarket shelves.

The proposed rule change would allow close contacts to return to work if they are asymptomatic and return a negative rapid antigen test (RAT).

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says some measures could delay the omicron peak but deliver the same outcome. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Teachers, child care workers and the aviation industry also could be added to proposed new rules, with the options to be discussed at national cabinet on Thursday.

Queensland announced on Sunday it would delay schools reopening by two weeks for most students, despite Australian Health Protection Principal Committee being expected to give advice to national cabinet for a unified approach.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly said the AHPPC had met on Sunday to discuss the start of the school year, ahead of the national cabinet meeting, to discuss balancing “the importance of face-to-face learning in schools with the risk of Covid”.

Mr Morrison said he welcomed that Queensland was keeping schools open during that time for children of essential workers, but warned there could be other consequences.

“As we see the omicron wave rise, I mean, sometimes you do things which just pushes the wave further out,” he said.

“You still get the same outcome. And so, you’ve got to balance those types of actions with the other pressures that are on the system.”

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Monday backed in her plan to delay the start of the school year, saying it was an “unprecedented time”.

“We don’t want children to miss out on learning, which is why that extra week has been added,” she said.

“But we also want to make sure that our children get vaccinated.”

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the delay to the start of school was due to the unprecedented times. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese said it was “bold” for the Prime Minister to say students would be returning to school on time.

“Well, they won’t be going back on time in Queensland,” he said.

“No one wants any restrictions to be in place for one day more than necessary … but what keeps happening is that reality catches up with rhetoric.”

Meanwhile, advice provided by the AHPPC to the states recommended essential food workers who are close contacts of Covid cases should be allowed to work if they are asymptomatic.

It would apply to truck drivers, abattoir and manufacturing workers, but not to customer-facing roles in grocery stores like check-out attendants.

Eligible workers would be able to work if they receive a day 1 negative RAT and a negative RAT every second day until day six, as well as quarantining outside of work until cleared by a negative text on day six or seven.

Originally published as School term delay could ‘push omicron wave out further’: PM