12 OctPandemic Declaration
The Victorian Government has announced the end of the Pandemic Declaration and associated Pandemic Orders as of 11.59 pm Wednesday 12 October 2022. Early childhood education and care (ECEC) services will have received an update from the Victorian Department of Education and Training (Vic DET) yesterday afternoon.
The following information is based on the 11 October update from the Department of Education and Training (DET).
Early childhood education and care services remain responsible for the health, safety, and well-being of all children in their services. Services should continue to apply their COVIDSafe practices and policies and take reasonable steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19 within their service.
It is strongly recommended that staff:
- who test positive for COVID-19 stay home and isolate for five days
- should not attend after five days if still symptomatic
- who are symptomatic but have not tested positive should not attend the service
- advise their service of the positive test.
Where children become symptomatic at an ECEC service they should:
- be collected by their parents or carers
- undergo testing for COVID-19.
Reporting requirements
Services are required to notify the department through the National Quality Agenda IT System (NQAITS) only if there is an outbreak of COVID-19 in the service (5 or more cases within a 7-day period) or if the service is to be closed.
Face masks
The Department of Health recommends that masks should be worn by a person who is a close contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 when leaving home.
Additionally, the Department of Health recommends that masks should be worn by a person who has COVID-19, for at least 7 days after a positive test, when they need to leave home.
DET will be updating the ECEC COVIDSafe Setting Guide and web pages reflecting these changes in the coming days.
