COVID-19: Seeking urgent clarification over Dr Kerry Chant's comments (18 August 2021)

During today's COVID-19 update on another new record of positive cases across New South Wales, the NSW Chief Health Officer (Dr Kerry Chant) said:

“We're asking the community to do is to not send children to child care unless they absolutely need to.
If they're just working from home, that wouldn't be, in my mind, a reason to do it."

As members of the Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) NSW would be aware, the existing set of NSW Public Health Orders have consistently allowed parents/guardians to drop-off and pick-up their children at their early childhood education and care services without exception:

• Parents/guardians from across Greater Sydney and Regional NSW can continue to drop-off and pick-up their child/ren from ECEC services (see Item 3 of Schedule 1 – Reasonable Excuses of the latest NSW Public Health Order and written clarification from the NSW Department of Education based on NSW Health advice)

ACA NSW is already urgently seeking clarification from:

• the NSW Department of Education;
• NSW Health; and
• the Office of the NSW Premier

as to whether there will be a change in the NSW Public Health Orders given Dr Chant's comments today.

At the time of writing, all three have yet to issue any clarification on the matter.

Members can contact the ACA NSW team on 1300 556 330 or nsw@childcarealliance.org.au for any further information/clarification.

That said, ACA NSW strongly reommends that all ECEC services also begin contacting their local NSW Members of Parliament (see directory).

PUBLISHED: 18 AUGUST 2021