Opinion: Close contact rules need to change to let siblings go to school
my two eldest could attend, because they are COVID-negative and fully vaccinated. We need similar rules in Australia to minimise the harm to children of missing out on school.Tanya Macheda
In NSW, household contacts of a positive case have to isolate for a week, even when fully vaccinated, and even if they test negative and show no symptoms. Children are presenting with milder and often asymptomatic disease, yet have the same isolation requirements as adults. Students who miss school should be publicly counted, so we know the effects of this close contact policy. And how are teachers supposed to fill the gaps for students who miss different weeks of the term? How will this year’s HSC account for hardship of students missing different amounts of school?Britain and the US do not require close contacts to isolate if they are fully vaccinated . In Britain, anyone aged under 18 also does not need to isolate if they are free of symptoms.