News / COVID-19
COVID scare at Brunswick school
A COVID-positive Year 12 student attended the secondary college on Monday and Tuesday
Mark Phillips
Saturday, October 16, 2021
DAYS after it hosted a pop-up vaccination centre, a Brunswick school has been forced to undergo deep cleaning because of COVID-19.
The Brunswick Secondary College community was informed late on Saturday that a Year 12 student had tested positive for the virus and had been on-site with other students and staff on Monday and Tuesday last week.
The school was to be closed on Sunday for cleaning but was confident it could reopen on Monday. The scare comes shortly before secondary education students are due to return to schools around the state as the next vaccination target is met.
Students and their parents were informed by email about the positive case at 7.20pm on Saturday by Principal Karen Harris. Close contacts of the infected student were contacted directly earlier on Saturday and told they should isolate for 14 days.
About an hour later, Ms Harris said the school would be closed for 24 hours as a precaution to undergo cleaning, but she was confident all Year 12 and Year 11 early start students would be able to return to classes under supervision on Monday.
All students bar Year 12 and a small number of Year 11s are still undergoing home learning, but secondary schools around the state are preparing for a staged return to face-to-face learning from next Monday, October 25.
The COVID positive student attended the school just a day after it hosted a state government pop-up vaccination hub on Saturday and Sunday last week.
Almost 1000 people were vaccinated at the school over the two days. Year 11 and 12 students at the school were vaccinated separately on the Friday.
Last month, Ms Harris said 60% of Year 12s had received their first dose at a special vaccination program at the school, but she expected others had been vaccinated privately by their GP.
The Brunswick area recorded 18 new cases on Saturday to bring the number of active cases to 166.
Also on Saturday, an anti-vaccination protest came to Brunswick’s border with 57 people arrested for breaching public health orders at Princes Park.