Education Minister to miss start of school after testing positive to Covid

There will be one notable absence when attendances are taken at government schools on the first day of term 1 on Wednesday — Education Minister Sarah Courtney. LATEST COVID NEWS >>

THERE will be one notable absence when attendances are taken at government schools on the first day of term 1 on Wednesday — Education Minister Sarah Courtney.

Ms Courtney caught Covid during a European holiday and won’t be back at work until Thursday, Premier Peter Gutwein revealed on Monday.

The Minister was originally due to return from her break on Monday. Deputy Premier Jeremy Rockliff has been acting education Minister since January 14.

The Premier was at pains to stress that Ms Courtney’s absence would not have a great effect.

“Obviously, we’re aware that she has contracted Covid and as needed to fulfil border entry requirements to re-enter Australia we now expect her to be back in Tasmania on Wednesday and will recommence her duties this Thursday,” Mr Gutwein said.

“I am pleased to report them Ms Courtney has now fully recovered and has tested negative as she needs to, to ensure that she can travel.

“The important point I want to make on this is that the arrangements for schools have been under construction now for a number of months.

“We’ve had an acting Minister in place and parents can have confidence that the plan has been developed and implemented and that our schools are ready to go when their children return on Wednesday.”

Labor’s education spokesman Josh Willie said Ms Courtney’s delayed return was not a good look.

“I think public sentiment overwhelmingly suggests that Minister Courtney made a grave mistake by taking leave at this time when school staff are giving up their holidays to prepare for the school year ahead when parents are anxious about the return and the safety of their children,” he said.

“Now is the time for leadership. Now is the time for an education Minister to roll up their sleeves to assure Tasmanians that everything is in hand and Tasmanian families can send their kids to school with confidence.”

Labor calls for modelling on Covid impact on schools

LABOR has demanded the state government release modelling on the impact of Covid on teachers when government schools return on Wednesday.

Opposition education spokesman Josh Willie said the Education Department had projections showing hundreds of teachers could be affected by Covid when classes resume and infections are expected to spike.

Tasmania added 443 new cases to reach 3359 active cases on Monday, with 15 people in hospital and one of those in intensive care.

More than 28,000 people have recovered and 20 have died.

Opposition parties on Monday cast doubt on the preparedness of the government school system — saying the state’s precautions lagged those elsewhere.

Premier Peter Gutwein said he was confident all appropriate arrangements were in place.

“There’s no better place than school for a child’s education or their well being and I would encourage parents to ensure that their children attend school this week," he said.

But Mr Willie said the government should release it modelling about the potential impact of Covid.

Labor member Josh Willie. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

“The government needs to be honest with staff and parents and students and provide some certainty – or otherwise – for schools going forward,” Mr Willie said.

“We already know of schools that are reopening this week without the necessary baseline staff numbers so we are already in a bad situation before Covid is taken into account.”

Acting education Minister Jeremy Rockliff said the modelling was “an assessment tool, rather than a predictive tool, to help the Department understand the impacts on schools under different scenarios”.

“This assessment indicated that a five per cent absence rate for staff and students would be considered at the lower end of impact, and that while there would be significant pressure at a 20 per cent staff and student absence rate, the combination of strategies at the school and department level would mean core learning for students would be maintained and impacts appropriately managed.”

Acting Director of Public Health Scott McKeown said the recommendations for only those who were symptomatic be tested was consistent with the lower transmission rates in Tasmania — and the lower risk.

“We do know that young children and children are much less likely to experience severe disease and very unlikely to require hospitalisation,” he said.

“We’ve had very few children have required hospitalisation. With many thousands of cases involving children, it’s a very low risk.”

But he said a spike in the number of cases was inevitable.

“There’ll be a lot of testing that’s occurring in the community and I expect that we will see that there’ll be an increase in the number of cases that are diagnosed in school-aged children.

“That’s good to pick those cases up, they’ll be managed appropriately.”

Greens health spokeswoman Rosalie Woodruff said with no mask mandate in primary schools, no routine testing and no regular Co2 monitoring in classrooms, Tasmania was behind the rest of the nation.

Greens Leader Cassie O'Connor and Dr Rosalie Woodruff MP at Hobart. Picture: Chris Kidd

“It’s very clear that Tasmanian children will be the worst protected in the country by their government when they go back to school,” she said.

Education Department Secretary Tim Bullard said there was 400 Co2 monitors to measure ventilation was sufficient for 195 schools statewide.

More than 4500 air purifiers are on hand, 2.1 million surgical masks, 200,000 rapid antigen tests and 64,000 student care packs.

Mr Bullard said there was “a range of strategies to deal with teacher absences”, including 1700 people on the department’s teacher relief register and 3500 people registered for other roles.

“Keeping schools running is our priority,” he said.

Spike in Covid cases predicted as schools return

Tasmania’s public schools will be fully prepared to deal with the threat of Covid-19 when students return on Wednesday, Premier Peter Gutwein said.

All schools were being provided with Rapid Antigen Testing kits, audits of ventilation had been carried out and arrangements for outdoor learning made where appropriate, Mr Gutwein told a media briefing in Hobart on Monday.

Education Minister Sarah Courtney, who contracted Covid while on holidays in France, will be back at work on Thursday, he said.

The Premier encouraged parents to ensure their children were vaccinated before they returned to the classroom.

There had been 443 new Covid cases confirmed today with 528 cases being released from isolation.

Tasmania presently has 3,359 active cases, 28,300 people having recovered from the illness. There are 15 people in hospital, eight of whom were being treated for Covid symptoms and one person in intensive care.

On Friday, there were 50 healthcare workers with Covid and 64 who were close contacts of a positive case.

Hospitals has “de-escalated” from their peak alert levels, Ms Morgan Wicks said, and the number of category two and category three elective surgery cases being dealt with would be increase.

Deputy Director of Public Health Scott McKeown said that a spike in Covid cases was expected once public schools returned.

“We should prepare ourselves for an increase in the number of cases, but it doesn’t mean it will have a significant impact on our health system,” he said.

Covid-19 Update for schools Scott McKeown, Deputy Director of Public Health Photo: Linda Higginson

Hundreds of thousands of Rapid Antigen tests have been distributed to schools across the state in readiness, Dr McKeown said.

State Health Commander Katherine Morgan-Wicks said 99 per cent of Tasmanians aged over 16 had received one dose of the vaccine and 44 per cent had received an additional booster shot.

But she said 20,000 5-11 year-olds in Tasmania had yet to receive their first dose of a vaccine.

“There’s still time for children to get that first dose of vaccine,” she said.