Schools, kura and early learning centres will soon be able to opt-in to receive rapid antigen tests, the government has announced.
(File photo) Photo: 123RF
In a statement, Education and Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins - who himself has today tested positive for Covid-19 - said the move was aimed at keeping schools and early learning centres open where possible.
"Feedback I have received from the education sector is that greater access to rapid antigen testing could help them to do that," he said.
"The Ministry of Education currently has several hundred thousand tests to hand and will receive nearly a million more over the next week to be distributed through its regional offices. Schools, kura and early learning services can opt-in to receive a supply of tests."
Staff at specialist schools, special needs units and school hostels would be prioritised for distribution, he said, and people who were symptomatic would be able to access rapid antigen tests through their child's school rather than going to a testing centre.
The move would be a short-term measure and would be reviewed in a few weeks.
In a press conference this morning, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern Ardern says she would not describe the move announced as turning schools into distribution centres.
"We already have RATs widely available for individuals who are symptomatic, but ... every parent will know that there'll be a time or an occasion when their child may be perfectly fine when they go to school and then suddenly may come down with a fever, a sore throat, or feel unwell.
"This is a really practical thing we can do to make it easier for families if their child when they're sent home goes home with a RAT, and rapid antigen test for the family. It just makes it easier."
She says what's happening at schools is reflective of what's happening in the wider community.
Ardern says she would like a situation where we didn't have health professionals having to juggle Covid alongside the day-to-day ailments they're usually dealing with, and one of the reasons the government has announced a broader flu vaccine campaign and talked about still needing measures to get through winter is to ensure preparation for waves of flu and RSV that are likely to come in winter.
Ardern says there are more circumstances at play which will require more work before New Zealand can reopen to non-visa waiver countries, including how we can process those visas.
Ardern says she does not expect the RATs supply for schools to take particularly long.
She says the move was about being able to provide RATs in school. The government is also providing surveillance testing for ECEs.
"That's an environment where we have children who aren't able to be vaccinated, aren't able to wear masks, and so there's good reasons for us to put extra surveillance in."
Figures from the Ministry of Education show 86 percent of Auckland's more than 500 schools have reported Covid-19 cases in the past 10 days.
In Taranaki, Whanganui and Manawatū the figure is 97 percent, with Nelson, Marlborough and the West Coast also on 86 percent.
Some have been learning online, with 10 to 15 percent of staff absent due to the virus.
Hipkins said state and state-integrated schools had been using masks, CO2 monitors, portable air cleaners and natural ventilation to help prevent the spread of the virus.
He said the government expected to have supplied at least one portable air cleaner to every school by May, with larger schools receiving more.