Covid-19 safety measures in schools: ventilation & air filtration
Petitioner:
Ms Natalie Beak
| Member:
Doyle, Trish
| No. of Signatories:
8,893
| Date closed:
21/10/2021
To the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly,
We call upon the NSW government to take immediate action to ensure adequate ventilation is installed and maintained in Primary Schools. The current measures undertaken by the Department of Education to ensure windows and doors are able to be opened is not sufficient.
Covid-19 is an airborne disease. Ventilation, along with vaccination and vital covid-safe steps, are essential to keep children safe. Children under 12 years of age are not currently eligible for vaccination, so adequate ventilation in Primary Schools is a priority.
OzSAGE, a network of public health experts, believes ventilation in classrooms is a key requirement for the safe lifting of restrictions in NSW. Their stance is supported by both the CDC in the USA and the ECDC across Europe.
In the NSW Parliament, the upper house ventilation system has been upgraded to ensure eight exchanges of fresh air every hour on the advice of health experts. Our children should be afforded the same protection as our elected officials.
We are asking for a state-wide ventilation plan to include:
• Carbon dioxide monitors to be installed in classrooms
• Air purification devices (including HEPA filters) to be distributed
• Funding for shade sails to increase outdoor learning spaces and make it easier for classes to be conducted outdoors
With Kindy and Stage 1 children returning to classrooms on the 25th October 2021, we implore you to take urgent action to ensure our children’s health and safety.
