29 Jan 2020
New Update: 28th January 2019
Dear Parents and Carers
The NSW Ministry of Health and NSW Department of Education have recommended that any student who was travelling in China (including Hong Kong) over the past 14 days should not return to school or child care services this week, as the coronavirus’ incubation period can be as long as two weeks.
Students who returned to Australia more than 14 days ago and have shown no symptoms are able to return to school this week.
There has been a small number of cases of confirmed Novel Coronavirus in New South Wales.
In accordance with national public health guidelines, exclusions only apply for those who are a:
· Confirmed case of Novel Coronavirus – exclude until medically cleared
· Close contact of a confirmed case of Novel Coronavirus – exclude for 14 days since last contact with the confirmed case
Close contact is defined as living in the same household, 15 minutes face-to-face contact with a person with confirmed coronavirus in any setting, or sharing a closed space with a person with confirmed coronavirus for more than 2 hours.
The Ministry of Health has processes in place to identify any close contacts of cases confirmed in Australia. Advice about not attending school would be provided to these close contacts by the Ministry of Health.
Consistent with current guidelines, staff and students who are unwell with respiratory illness should remain at home until symptoms resolve. In accordance with our current practice if any child becomes unwell we will implement our infection control guidelines and follow the advice provided by the Ministry of Health as appropriate.
Thank you for enquiring about this issue. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and take advice received from NSW Ministry of Health and NSW Department of Education to ensure we are responding to the situation appropriately.
Kate Young
Relieving Principal
29th January 2020