Schools in NSW will no longer close when a Covid case is detected and parents have been warned not to let their kids have sleepovers, as thousands of children prepare to go back to the classroom.
Premier Dominic Perrottet made the announcement at a press conference on Sunday morning, and confirmed that teachers and pupils will be given two free rapid antigen tests every week.
Face masks will also be made mandatory for all teachers and high school students, with more than eight million surgical masks being delivered to schools.
Masks will not be mandatory for primary school children, but Mr Perrottet said they are 'highly recommended' for children above Year 3.
The massive surveillance testing program is the linchpin of the premier's 'Covid-smart' plan, as the state recorded 20,324 infections and 34 deaths on Sunday.
The state government hopes to have delivered more than six million RATs to 3,000 public, private and religious schools across NSW by January 26. Pictured: Students walking to school
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said face masks will be made mandatory for all teachers and high school students. Pictured: A student wearing a face mask at Fairvale High School
When asked why primary school children do not have to wear face masks at school, Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said it was an issue of practicality.
'Anybody who has children knows it is hard to make them keep the mask on all day,' she explained.
'They spend a lot of time fiddling and playing with the mask and we question the effectiveness of that, so we have left the settings where we think they are appropriate, and also where we think is practical in terms of what schools can manage and what students can manage themselves.'
Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant urged parents not to send their children to school if they have any symptoms.
'While the community cases are high, we expect to see that schools mirror what is occurring in the community,' she said.
'We will expect to see cases among children and staff attending schools.'
She also encouraged parents to 'try and minimise' their kids' activities, or connections with other children and sleepovers and other activities that might drive infection'.
Director of the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance Professor Christine McCartney said children with Covid may not present any symptoms.
'If your child is infected with Covid you can expect they will either have no symptoms, you may not actually know, or they will have mild symptoms, with a blocked nose, fever, maybe a little cost,' she said.
'That will resolve completely with a few days of extra care, fluids, rest and Panadol.'
She also said that of 17,500 cases last year, only three out of every 100 children went to hospital with the virus - but two-thirds of those were because parents were infected with Covid and were not able to look after their children at home.
Other measures include vaccine mandates for all teachers and staff as sport, music, assemblies and even school camping trips are given the green light to go ahead.
The massive surveillance testing program is the linchpin of Dominic Perrottet's 'Covid-smart' back-to-school plan (pictured: Firbank Grammar student receives a COVID-19 Rapid Antigen test)
The state government hopes to have delivered more than six million RATs to 3,000 public, private and religious schools across NSW by January 26 - even as the rest of Australia faces a supply shortage.
Ms Mitchell said: 'We've had more than four million go out already, more than 6 million will be out by Tuesday evening, in preparation for the return to school for students on the 1 February.'
Trucks have been on the road 24-hours a day during the past week so schools can prepare to hand out the at-home testing kits to parents before the end of the school holidays.
The non-mandatory testing program is set to run for the first four weeks of first term before the regime is reviewed and resupplied.
Ms Mitchell also said that parents who have a child
