Page 986 - Week 04 - Thursday, 7 May 2020
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The ACT declared a state of health emergency on Monday, 16 March. This was the first time a public health emergency had been declared in the ACT. It is readily acknowledged that the community’s response to COVID-19 restrictions is one of the major factors in the territory having an impressive and enviable record of managing this pandemic.
ACT schools responded quickly, with fetes, sporting carnivals, assemblies and excursions all put on hold, and the Education Directorate started planning for digital delivery of lessons. That was seven weeks ago.
As of yesterday, the ACT had 107 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 103 people recovered and an impressive 9,995 negative tests. As of yesterday, we have no locally acquired cases, with the overwhelming majority of people acquiring it from overseas. The ACT is in an enviable position.
While many people continue to choose to work from home, it is evident that workplaces are adapting to heightened hygiene protocols, social distancing and general consideration of other people’s space. You see it in the shopping malls and the supermarkets and in this workplace.
The Legislative Assembly is a particularly positive example of how a workplace can adapt to a safer working environment. The team responsible for introducing and maintaining these new arrangements should be congratulated. This new norm for following a heightened awareness of hygiene and social distancing is also being recognised and realised by families. Many parents who initially were asked or chose to work from home are now feeling a little more comfortable about returning to the office. We see more than just supermarkets believing they can manage under the new rules.
People in the ACT get it. They understand what they need to do to stay safe and they understand, from very detailed and extensive medical advice, what the risks are. This, of course, is not to be complacent; we must remain vigilant and heed the advice of our medical experts.
And so we come to the issue of the situation with ACT government schools. At first, parents were asked in March to keep children at home. It is probably fair to say that that was the preference of many parents anyway in those early uncertain times. On 22 March it was announced that all ACT schools would go pupil free from Tuesday, 24 March through to the school holidays and that they would be preparing to transition to alternative teaching models from term 2.
The education minister assured parents that government schools were especially well placed for this transition, after investing significantly in devices for students and in digital capability over recent years. The minister also promised that there would be options for school-age children whose parents and carers needed to continue delivering essential services and that the government was also making arrangements to ensure that vulnerable children would be able to attend school in person.
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