Disease expert calls for closures of schools immediately

All Tasmanian schools should be closed as soon as possible in an effort to limit the spread of coronavirus, a disease expert has said.

ALL Tasmanian schools should be closed as soon as possible in an effort to limit the spread of coronavirus, the Greens’ Rosalie Woodruff says.

The Franklin MP is also an epidemiologist, an expert in the incidence, distribution and control of diseases within populations.

“We think it’s time to close schools formally,’’ she said,

“Today we’re hearing reports that 20 per cent of children have not gone to school and some private schools have closed.

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“Yes, it will cause a disruption, but we have a time frame before Easter where we’re looking at minimal disruption and maximum benefit.

“From an epidemiological point of view, there is good evidence that closing schools may be effective.”

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But the State Government yesterday ruled out a blanket closure of schools, with Premier Peter Gutwein saying health experts believed it was not necessary at this stage.

Mr Gutwein said advice from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee was that pre-emptive closures were “not proportionate or effective” to prevent community transmission of the virus.

“The committee has said that the spread of COVID-19 in the community is at quite low levels and it may be many months before the level of Australian community infection is again as low as it is at the moment,’’ he said.

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“For pre-emptive school closures to be effective, closure for at least several months is required, and it would be unclear when they could be re-opened.

“School closures for shorter defined periods may be considered as part of a suite of more stringent distancing measures later in the outbreak, in anticipation of a peak in infection rates.”

Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff earlier this week said parents and carers may see fit to not send their children to school, and that usual rules around absences would not apply.

Dr Woodruff has also called for other measures to control the virus in Tasmania, including self-isolating travellers from the mainland as well as those who have been overseas.

“We’ve got exponential growth of cases in some of the mainland states, and it appears we still have a window in Tasmania before that happens,’’ she said. “We think there has to be proper quarantine for people who enter Tasmania by sea or air, regardless of where they’ve come from.”