Secondary students should wear masks on school bus, Health Minister says

Secondary school students should be wearing masks on the school bus, Health Minister Chris Hipkins says. 

However, the Government is still deciding from what age should be required to adhere to mandatory mask wearing. 

On Monday, a face covering will be mandatory on public transport across the country including shared rides such as Uber and taxis. 

When asked if school children on buses should be made to wear masks, Mr Hipkins said, "yes, for certain age cohorts". 

"But there will be a cut-off for a certain amount of age groups."

As to what age that cut off would sit, Mr Hipkins said the Government was still working through that detail. 

"Secondary school students should be wearing masks."

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said "in part, what we’re discussing... just how this applies to public transport versus transport that is solely for school students.

"Then how you deal with school students who utilise those public buses and how we should apply that when you talk about younger children.

"Some of it is practical as well."

Ms Ardern said when it came to public buses, it was usually filled with people who did not know one another. 

"It's very different when we're talking about a school environment."

It comes as the World Health Organisation advised that children aged 12 and over should wear masks as adults do, and only in some situations for children aged 6-11 which included if there was widespread transmission, access and for children interacting with people at high risk. 

This week, Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said two Covid-19 cases linked to Auckland bus trips gave health officials "pause for thought".

Today, Mr Hipkins announced QR codes would be mandatory on public transport from September 4.