18 Dec 2021
Dear Fairfield West Public School community,
A member of our school community has tested positive to COVID-19. If you or your child were at school on 13, 14 December, you may be impacted on these exposure dates.
NSW Education has advised that students in kindergarten and staff who worked with this group of students on these dates have been identified as a casual contact of the confirmed case. Casual contacts are required to immediately get a nose and throat (PCR) test and to self-isolate until they receive a negative result.
COVID-19 transmission in school communities has been high due to the close interactions that children and young people have with each other. This is particularly so with the new Omicron variant of concern, which on early information is demonstrating a 10-fold increase in transmission. Most people who have been exposed to a person with COVID-19 will test positive within the first 7 days of exposure, with some still likely to transmit for up to 14 days. There are around 9% of children who will transmit to other children, with about a third of these during the second week following exposure.
It is therefore recommended that, as a contact of a person with COVID-19 you should consider your personal and family circumstances and those you may come into contact with in managing the risks associated with potential transmission. You should avoid high risk settings (health care, aged care, correctional facilities) where possible, and take extra precautions around vulnerable people including family members, for 14 days after your last exposure. You should also have another nose and throat (PCR) test six days after exposure.
You should also consider undertaking a rapid antigen test before family functions or visiting vulnerable family or friends to minimise the risk of transmission. Rapid antigen test kits are now widely available in chemists, supermarkets and other retailers / online.
NSW Health would like to remind you that anyone who has been unwell or if you develop any symptoms such as a fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, loss of smell/taste, muscle/joint pains, diarrhoea, nausea/vomiting or extreme tiredness is to be tested at one of the COVID-19 testing clinics. Do not visit family, friends or attend events or gatherings if you have any symptoms.
The Department of Education is working closely with NSW Health and we will be in contact with you should any of this advice change.
Further information on COVID-19 is available on the NSW Government website.
If you need practical support or have non-urgent health-related questions during isolation, call NSW Health on 1800 943 553.
Thank you for your support.
Genelle Petruszenko
Principal