
The author of this story is known to Mamamia but has chosen to remain anonymous for privacy reasons. The feature image used is a stock photo.
There’s a lot the government could have said to make me feel better about walking into work on Monday morning.
They could have acknowledged that social distancing is impossible in a school scenario, but that the cancellations of assemblies, before/after school groups and sporting were a huge step towards preventing the spread of COVID-19.
They could have reassured teachers who are immunocompromised or aged 60 plus that there will be additional sick leave and no questions asked if they need to take time off work to protect themselves. They could have acknowledged that for Australian teachers, the simple act of doing their job is a little frightening at the moment.
Watch: Mamamia’s Claire Murphy breaks down your most asked questions about COVID-19. Post continues below.
But these things weren’t meaningfully addressed in the sweeping email from Mark Scott (Secretary, Department of Education) that landed in NSW public teacher inboxes on Sunday night. Rather, Scott just urged the use of the very same hygiene measures I’ve implemented for 10 years of being surrounded by coughing, sneezing children during work hours.