Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said the virus had spread between the two grade 5 students,who were in the same classroom,then to their teacher,and among the students’ and teacher’s families.
He said there was a high rate of transmission for this virus within households.
“Without saying that the actual incubation period is different for this virus,we do see that for the infectious cases it’s gone from a family of four,through those kids to another family,then to the entire family,to the teacher ... the attack rate within those households is higher. I think we’ve had about three-quarters of those exposed in households in our current cluster become cases,” Professor Sutton said.
Despite concerns about transmission at the North Melbourne school,Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday said returning to in-person classes should be a priority for Victoria. “Kids have lost enough time out of school over the last 18 months,” he said.
While more than 200 members of the school community in Melbourne’s inner north have been identified as tier-one contacts who must isolate for 14 days,some have been recruited for a new research project examining how the virus spreads in schools,kindergartens and childcare centres.
Parents and children have in recent days visited the school to give saliva samples. The school of about 900 students is otherwise closed until further notice,even for vulnerable students and children of permitted workers.
The study will also analyse the impact of school closures on children and families via a number of surveys in coming weeks. It is run by the Murdoch Children’s Research Centre,whose senior researchers havecalled for school closures to be a last resort during outbreaks,operating on a traffic light system rather than a blanket switch to remote learning.