Medical grade masks will be supplied to all schools and kura across New Zealand, for both teachers and students to wear as Omicron continues to spread throughout the country.
Rapid Antigen Tests would also be more widely available in schools, Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced on Friday morning.
It comes after the country's daily Covid-19 cases passed 6000 for the first time on Thursday, with 6137 new Covid-19 community cases confirmed.
Masks
For teachers, two million masks have already been distributed to schools and another five million are available as needed. The Ministry of Education also ordered 36 million more to bolster supplies.
A one-off supply of 3.8m masks – including child-sized masks – would be distributed for use in schools at Year 4 and above.
“The Government is also providing masks as a backstop for students. We know most families will have their own preferences, and there is more flexibility for young people around the types of masks that can be used,” Hipkins said.
“The evidence tells us that wearing masks will help slow the spread of Omicron, and we want to see our children and young people get as much on-site learning as possible this year,” he said.
School staff are required to wear medical grade masks when working with young people indoors in year 4 and up, and students also in those year groups are required to wear masks when indoors.
Rapid Antigen Tests
Hipkins said there was 700,000 RATs for schools and early learning services.
“Rapid antigen tests should only be used if all teachers and staff are either positive or required to isolate and there isn’t a suitable person who can supervise children on site at a school or kura. The same applies for early learning services,” Hipkins said.
“There is risk involved in a person who has been exposed to Covid-19 returning to work with children, so school and early learning leaders should think through carefully the use of rapid antigen tests for this purpose.”
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