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Isolation periods for people who test positive for COVID-19 should be re-evaluated, but not before the end of an expected winter surge in infections, the NSW premier says.
It comes ahead of the third school term, with public school students returning to class on Tuesday and updated COVID-19 protocols from the education department.
Vaccination mandates for most teachers have ended, while other methods of controlling the virus will be boosted for the first four weeks of term.
NSW Education secretary Georgina Harrisson said unvaccinated teachers who had been on alternate duties or who wished to return after resigning or being dismissed because of their vaccination status would be able to return to the classroom in the coming weeks.
Students and teachers would get additional rapid antigen tests, additional cleaning would be undertaken in classrooms, amid continued improvements to air quality and ventilation at schools.
“The settings are similar to last term, but we are being extra vigilant to get the term off to the best start,” Harrisson said on Monday.
Last term saw a 30% spike in staff absences due to COVID and flu illnesses.
Premier Dominic Perrottet says his interstate counterparts agreed at a national cabinet meeting on Saturday that support payments should be retained until the end of September for casual workers who have to isolate with the virus.
The payment scheme originally ended on June 30.
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Perrottet said it would be unfair for the government to require people to isolate without compensating them amid a winter resurgence of the virus.
“That’s why COVID policies should not be set and forget … we need to tailor our settings to the circumstances that we find ourselves in,” Perrottet said.
He questioned the seven-day compulsory isolation period for people who test positive but said it should not be immediately altered.
“You can’t get to September 30 and then say ‘how do we deal with it’ at that point,” Perrottet said.
The protocols in place are working well and a high vaccination rate means NSW is not in the same position as the two previous winters it spent in lockdown, Perrottet said.
Meanwhile, another cruise ship carrying people infected with the virus has docked in Sydney.
The P&O Pacific Explorer berthed at White Bay cruise terminal in Rozelle after a nine-night round trip to Queensland, docking in Airlie Beach, Cairns and Moreton Island.
The cruise operated at an “amber” level under NSW Health protocols, meaning there were “quite a few cases on board” and the vessel’s staffing and resources were impacted.
A P&O spokesman told AAP on Monday there were 2800 passengers and crew on board, but the cruise company would not confirm the specific number of people infected with the virus.
NSW Health also declined to comment.
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“Whether (the cruise company) choose to do so or not is a matter for them,” a NSW Health spokesperson told AAP.
An amber level means there are between 30 and 99 positive cases per 1000 people, indicating there are between 84 and 277 positive cases on board.
Guests disembarking in Sydney were asked to self-administer a rapid antigen test within 24 hours of leaving the ship, with results subject to random checks, the P&O spokesman said.
NSW Health said on Sunday it had been advised all COVID-positive people on board the Pacific Explorer and their close contacts were isolating.
The Pacific Explorer is due to depart on a four-night cruise to Moreton Island on Monday.
The Coral Princess cruise ship docked in NSW twice last week carrying more than 120 infected passengers and crew.
NSW reported 9761 new cases and five deaths from COVID-19 on Monday.
Some 2169 people are in hospital with the virus and 64 of them are in intensive care.
With AAP. (Content has been tweaked a bit for style and length.)
Jaw de Guzman is the content producer for Comms Room, a knowledge platform and website aimed at assisting the communications industry and its professionals.
