School RATs rollout delivered by plane, boat and automobile

Courier drivers, pilots, boat crew and school staff have combined to ensure the delivery of hundreds of thousands of Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) to schools around the state for the start of the 2022 school year. Education Minister Grace Grace said the massive RATs rollout was a huge logistical success and was a core element of the comprehensive back to school plan. "Thanks to the hard work of our teachers, principals, staff and school communities, there have been no class or school closures," Ms Grace said. "The Department of Education and our stakeholders have worked tirelessly to ensure schools across every stretch of Queensland had the RATs they needed for a COVID-safe start to the year. "Across the state, we've had courier drivers, pilots and staff managing boots-on-the-ground deliveries around the clock to ensure RATs turned up on time. "Our RATs have had quite the journey, travelling by road, air or water to reach remote places such as the Palm Island, Urandangi, Cape York, the Torres Strait islands, Longreach and Emerald. "More than 700,000 tests have reached their destinations with more on the way next week." Minister Grace said she was pleased that staff and students have been COVID-safe by wearing face masks. "More than 1.2 million masks are on their way to schools across the state, with another 1.2 million to go out this week," she said. Thanks to the great work from Queenslanders, the Premier announced this morning that from 6pm Friday 4 March, masks will no longer be required in most venues, including schools. In addition, schools will also be able to host assemblies and excursions while restrictions on visitors to schools are also lifting. Minister Grace said she is delighted that we have approximately 98% of our teachers who are fully vaccinated. "They know that going out and getting vaccinated is the right thing to do and will help save lives," she said. "We know there are cases in our schools, just as there are in the wider community, but we are well prepared to ensure schools are COVID-safe and keep parents and carers informed. "Queensland Health is providing the daily case numbers among school aged children, and schools are communicating directly with staff and families to alert them to COVID in the school community, reminding people to monitor their symptoms and stay home if unwell. "As the Chief Health Officer said, we know the virus is very well spread and there is lot of circulating virus in the community. However, this is not something that is concerning us greatly, but we will continue to work closely with our stakeholders to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of our staff, students and school community." Further information about the department's COVID-19 response can be found at https://qed.qld.gov.au/covid19/frequently-asked-questions and https://qed.qld.gov.au/covid19/covid-safe-for-education/creating-a-covid-safe-environment. The Back to School plan is available here: https://qed.qld.gov.au/covid19/back-to-school