RAT’s En Route For Victoria's Back-To-School Covid Safe Plan

Millions of rapid antigen tests are on their way to public, Catholic, and independent schools along with childcare centres across Victoria as a part of the state governments back-to-school plan.

On Sunday, premier Daniel Andrews and education minister James Merlino announced the scheme which will include surveillance testing, ventilation, vaccinations and an extensive workforce will be ready for face-to-face learning.

“We will be back day one of term one and it may look a bit different, will be challenging, but it is critically important that we have the students back in the classroom and as safe a situation as we can possibly build so that they can get the education and socialisation,” Mr Andrews said.

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In a bid to meet the impending deadline, around the clock delivery services will be door-dropping about 14 million rapid antigen tests, including 6.6 million tests to schools across the state ready for the first week of term.

The long-awaited plan will see a four-week non-mandatory testing regimen kick off from the start of school from January 28.

“We have to get schools back. Once they get back, given how much Omicron as a community, there will be cases,” Mr Andrews warned.

Staff and students at primary and secondary schools, along with childcare settings will be required to wear masks and deliver a rapid antigen test twice-a-week for the first four weeks of term 1.

Specialist school staff and students are encouraged to test five days a week, due to a higher risk of serious illness.

"That surveillance testing is all about detecting cases, not necessarily every case, that would be almost impossible given the amount of transmission that is in the community," the Premier said.

"But it's about finding as many cases as we can and shutting down those chains of transmission."

- Premier Andrews

The state government will also deliver 51,000 air purifiers to for high-risk settings with poor ventilation. These include music rooms, staff-rooms, indoor canteens and sick bays.

In addition, about six million masks will be provided to schools, including N95 masks, and surgical masks for staff and students.

Mr Merlino said the state now recommends all staff and students in grade three through year 12, wear surgical or N95 masks, rather than cloth masks, while indoors.

The deputy premier warned increasing Covid cases were “inevitable”, but the new measures would help limit the spread of the virus.

“Inevitably, due to Omicron, there will be an increase in cases, but the surveillance testing, the public health advice, the Doherty modelling, we identify those cases early, it will drive numbers down,” Merlino said.

Meanwhile, in a bid to address impressing staff shortages, education workers will now be classed as critical workers, meaning they can voluntarily continue working if they are asymptomatic and produce daily negative RATs.

Retired and inactive teachers, as well as education support staff have been called-back temporarily to fill in Covid-related workforce shortages.

Finally, Victorian school and early childhood staff will be required to have received a Covid booster from February 25, or within three months and two weeks of receiving a second dose to continue working.

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