17 JanRAT testing in early years settings
CELA, ELAA and CCC believe that a higher level of rapid antigen testing is required in education and care settings, in light of the Federal Government’s decision to make educators exempt from household isolation requirements.
We recommend that daily rapid antigen tests should occur for 5 consecutive days where there is a positive case in a service or/and staff members who are household contacts return to work. In addition, as an ongoing temporary operational requirement, we recommend that all staff and children over 2 years of age, should test twice a week.
This level of vigilance is required, as a minimum, due to:
-Early Education is known to be a high transmission setting
-Children in early education settings are not vaccinated and it is in the interest of their safety that a higher level of vigilance is applied
-Positive cases are identified quickly which has a flow on effect to workforce preservation and confidence across early education teams
-Regular testing provides reassurance for parents that protocols are in place, which will have a flow on effect to reducing parental anxiety and pre-service attendance
-Regular testing reduces the impact of false negative results.
Rapid antigen tests should be free and supply assured to all education and care services prior to any change in return to work policy for this sector.
