How to protect classrooms against Covid-19 and other infections

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-03-10 00:01

New Zealand

There's no need for schools to have a reputation as petri dishes for disease and infection, researchers write in the editorial of the latest issue of the NZMJ. They propose seven goals to make learning environments safe for children, including striving for excellent indoor air quality, making masks rapidly available during outbreaks, and resourcing schools to provide high quality teaching online or in a hybrid model so students and staff can stay home if infectious. They say schools should be one of the safest places for children to be, and their access to learning should be protected during public health emergencies.

News release

From: Pasifika Medical Association Group

School should be one of the safest places a child can be. Instead, Aotearoa New Zealand’s "business-as-usual" approach to the Omicron outbreaks in 2022 showed once again that our schools are high-risk settings for transmission of COVID-19 and other infections. These infections have a heavy impact on children’s health and learning and on teachers’ occupational safety, and they put families/whānau at risk when children bring infections home from school. We propose seven key goals for safe schools along with actions needed to achieve them. Effective protections such as excellent indoor air quality need to be embedded within every school setting, ensuring that school communities stay safe and children’s access to learning is protected during infectious disease outbreaks and other public health emergencies.

Journal/
conference: New Zealand Medical Journal

Organisation/s: University of Otago, Massey University, Tū Kotahi Māori Asthma Trust

Funder: N/A

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