ANALYSIS: They started the pandemic with opposing philosophical approaches. Now the NSW and Victorian premiers are working together to get children back into school.
Instead of being kept away from class if they are close contacts of the sick, every child would be allowed into their classroom, as long as they tested negative twice a week.The approach would mark a shift from the TTIQ system of test, trace, isolate and quarantine used for the past two years.
. It would be replaced by so-called “surveillance testing” – a less stringent but easier-to-scale strategy. Perrottet and Andrews need to win the confidence of teachers and parents. Without their acceptance, the plan could fail. The logistics will not be simple. With about 1.2 million school students enrolled in NSW, 24 million tests would be required just for term one.Both states want to shore up societal immunity before children are back in classrooms.Early in the pandemic, jibes between premiers from rival parties were a common technique to shift attention from domestic problems. After 530,000 extra Pfizer vaccine doses were allocated to western Sydney to stop people dying last August, Andrews, who had imposed a severe lockdown on Victoria in an attempt to eliminate COVID-19, complained NSW had been “given the inside running”. The youngest and newest state leader, Perrottet, has been careful to be respectful towards his counterparts and ignore provocations, which must have helped his relationship with the confrontational Andrews. Although some critics have accused political leaders of wilful negligence during the pandemic, Perrottet and Andrews’ school plan is an example of how senior politicians ignore partisan rancour more frequently than many realise.Need to know. Our daily reporting, in your inbox.
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