Schools in Auckland will not reopen next Monday as the Delta variant continues to run rampant through the wider community, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced.
Ardern said last week that preliminary health advice indicated schools may reopen for the beginning of Term 4 on October 18.
The announcement was made following a post-Cabinet media conference with Education Minister Chris Hipkins on Monday afternoon.
"This was initial advice and today, the public health team have advised that the current state of the outbreak in Auckland has heightened the need for robust safety measures to be in place before schools reopen," she said.
"Further public health advice will be provided next week."
Cabinet also made the decision on Monday afternoon to make vaccination mandatory for large parts of the country’s health and education workforce.
"Vaccination remains our strongest and our most effective tool to protect against infection and disease, and we need as many people as possible to be vaccinated to allow all of our sectors to respond to the pandemic whilst continuing to deliver everyday services with as little disruption as possible," Hipkins said.
Jacinda Ardern said further safety measures needed to be introduced before schools could be safely opened. (Source: Other)
He said while most of the people working in the health and education workforces are either partially or fully vaccinated, we "can’t leave anything to chance".
"It wasn’t an easy decision but we need to have the people who work with vulnerable communities who haven’t been vaccinated to now take this extra step."
Cabinet has agreed that high-risk workers in the health and disability sector - including general practitioners, pharmacists, community health nurses, midwives and paramedics - must be fully vaccinated by December 1. They must receive their first dose by October 30.
Schools, early learning staff and support workers who have contact with children and students - including home-based educators, teacher aides, contractors and administration staff - must be fully vaccinated by January 1, 2022. The target for their first dose is November 15 of this year.
Schools and kura will also be required to keep a Covid-19 vaccination register for their students. Students who fail to provide proof of vaccination will be considered unvaccinated, he said.
"All education workforce employees in Auckland and other Alert Level 3 regions will be required to return a negative Covid-19 test result before they can work on-site at such time as their schools are able to or whenever learning services are able to reopen.
"Those who are not fully vaccinated in the period leading up to the first of January will be required to undergo weekly Covid-19 testing until they are able to be vaccinated."
Hipkins said "work is continuing" as to whether tertiary vaccination requirements, if any, will be put in place.
An update will be provided in due course, he said.
Auckland will remain at Alert Level 3 for another week. Its settings will be reviewed by Cabinet on Monday, October 18.
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