Rapid Antigen Test access for school staff.

This week, the Premier announced the ‘back to school’ plan for Term 1.

Some of the key factors of this plan are:

- Some provision of Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) to symptomatic students and staff;

- Priority access for students and staff at Queensland Health testing sites;

- Wearing of face masks in most circumstances;

- Temporarily limiting the number of external visitors such as contractors;

- Temporarily limiting face-to-face meetings such as staff or parent-teacher meetings;

- Suspending school camps, excursions, assemblies and other large gatherings for the first 4 weeks of term.

Return to school plans in Victoria and New South Wales have both included a high level of ‘surveillance testing’ of both students and staff in schools. This means that RATs are provided to staff and students, and are required to be done twice a week prior to attending the school.

This is not the case here in Queensland – the plan only outlines that, if a student or staff member becomes symptomatic at school, they will be provided a RAT to take home – if available – or directed to a Queensland Health testing site for ‘priority’ testing. 

We know that schools are considered a ‘high risk setting’ and the chances of an outbreak in a school are real. Workers and students should be given the resources they need to minimize this risk, including having RATs at home for surveillance testing as required.