Victorian students and staff will be asked to test themselves twice a week, in order to keep case numbers reduced in the state’s schools.
As part of the plan to keep students xjmtzywin classrooms from “day one, term one”, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said testing and air-purifiers would be crucial to keeping schools open and students on campus.
The state government will also call on inactive or retired teachers to rejoin the system to combat staff shortages.
Victoria and NSW authorities have worked closely together to get students back in school from January 31.
Both states will require students and teachers to use rapid antigen tests twice weekly.
The federal government will split the cost with states opting to test students and teachers.
Fourteen million tests will be delivered to schools and early childhood centres over the coming weeks – 6.6 million of which will be delivered in time for the first week.
Mr Andrews said testing would be in place for at least the first four weeks of term, aimed at finding as “many cases as we can” and shutting down chains of transmission.
“The logic goes like this – we have to get schools back. Once they get back, given how much Omicron is in the community, there will be cases,” he said.
“Free rapid tests means we will find more of those cases than if we were not testing, we will then be able – through isolation – to reduce the chance of transmission.
“We are doing everything we can to make sure schools are as safe as they can be, but open. “
Air purifiers will also play a major role in protecting Victorian school students and staff, with the final 10,000 units set to be delivered to facilities within the next week.
Deputy Premier James Merlino said the priority was the “social and emotional well-being of our kids”.
“We want them back face-to-face, in front of their teachers, with their peers,” he said.
“This back-to-school plan provides parents and students and teachers with the comfort and hte confidence knowing that we are doing everything we can, even through it might look a bit different, in some circumstances, we are doing everything we can do do this in a Covid-safe way to get our kids back to school.”
Victoria recorded 13,091 new Covid-19 cases and 14 deaths on Sunday.
Chief health officer Brett Sutton said Victoria’s Omicron peak was “likely behind us”.
There are 1002 people with Covid-19 in hospital – 120 of whom are in intensive care. There are 44 people on ventilators.
