Schools have introduced social distancing measures and are limiting assemblies, excursions, travel, events and conferences in response to the spread of COVID-19, commonly known as novel coronavirus.
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On Monday, a meeting between the Prime Minister, state and territory leaders and the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee found pre-emptive school closures are "not likely to be proportionate or effective as a public health intervention" due to the care arrangements it would require from parents.
The state's chief medical officer Dr Kerry Chant said, in a letter to parents, the move mirrors that of Singapore, which has had success in limiting the transmission without closing schools.
However, education department secretary Mark Scott said the state is continuing to prepare for the possibility of future school closures, and the scaling up of technology and training of staff in preparation for offsite lessons.
"The advice from health officials remains clear on school closures - they are not recommending them at this point. This will continue to be a point of investigation and review as COVID-19 management strategies develop," Mr Scott posted to social media on Sunday.
"Schools have been a focus of the community and the government as the impacts of coronavirus have developed globally.
"The community expects schools to be as safe as possible. We are implementing these measures to provide peace of mind for students, parents and staff."
Bega Valley Public School said on Monday it was developing home learning programs for pupils in preparation of the possibility schools will be closed over coming weeks, and have enforced split playgrounds and toilets by age group as a form of social distancing.
Bega High School cancelled Monday's school assembly and face-to-face meetings between parents and teachers, with parents now being contacted throughout the week by teachers by phone. The school has also cancelled large sporting events for the foreseeable future and a scheduled school camp.
In a letter, Sapphire Coast Anglican College told parents to "be aware that the voracity of the news cycle can heighten a sense of emergency in our children that they do not need to feel". The school said it is following advice from the government as well as the Association of Independent Schools of NSW.
Bega Valley Shire Council said on Monday it had heeded the advice of state and federal authorities to stop non-essential gatherings of more than 500 people, and cancelled the weekend's planned Harmony Day celebrations.
General manager Leanne Barnes said council is focused on the wellbeing of its workforce and shared spaces including libraries and childcare centres, and is following advice from state and federal health authorities.
"We will continue to reassess our response day by day with an eye on the leadership role we play in the community," Ms Barnes said.
"While we could all be forgiven for being weary of further unease in our community, we must summon the focus and take in the extremely important advice we are all receiving from the NSW and Commonwealth health departments."
Council also announced on Monday it has cancelled planned bushfire recovery meetings at Bemboka and Merimbula, and will now broadcast via Facebook on Thursday from 5.30pm.
"Knowing the need for updated and reliable information, and the key role these meetings have played we have looked to find an alternative way to take questions from the community and share information," council said.
Council said on social media the current precautions are in place despite no "widespread community transmission" in Australia.
"This makes actions taken in the coming weeks particularly important as we all play a role in helping to slow the spread of the virus," council said.
The closest confirmed case of the virus has been two in the ACT, where officials have declared a public health emergency. An Illawarra resident was also confirmed to have the virus on Monday.
Dr Chant said school closures are "associated with considerable costs", with estimates around 15 per cent of the workforce and 30 per cent of the healthcare workforce may need to take time off work.
"For pre-emptive school closures to be effective, prolonged closure is required and it would be unclear when they could be re-opened," she said.
"While this effect could be mitigated somewhat, it is likely that this burden will still be significant and will fall disproportionately on those in casual or tenuous work circumstances.
"School closures may still be considered late in the outbreak in anticipation of a peak in infection rates, for a shorter period of time.
"At this stage, the spread of COVID-19 in the community is at quite low levels. It may be many months before the level of community infection is again as low as it is at the moment.
"If there were still a large pool of susceptible students when schools are re-opened, there would be likely to be re-emergence of transmission in the community," she said.
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