RAT Distribution To NSW ECEC Services

NSW Health is seeing several indicators that a new COVID-19 wave has begun. Cases are expected to increase over the coming weeks. 

Services are strongly encouraged to follow the NSW Health advice  to help keep children, educators and the community safe, including:

• Stay home if you have COVID-19 symptoms until you are well. 
• Encourage staff not to attend if they feel unwell and ask all families to keep sick children at home. 
• Make sure you are up to date on your vaccinations. NSW Health recommends two doses of the COVID-19 vaccination and a booster shot to reduce the risk of transmission within the community. 

To support services, the department will provide additional supplies of Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) to quickly identify cases of COVID-19 in your community. Each service will receive RAT kits for use by staff (5 per staff member) and families (up to 5 per child). 

Services should continue to evaluate what is most appropriate for their unique circumstances while remaining compliant with the National Regulations on taking reasonable steps to prevent the spread of infectious diseases and notifying parents of positive cases.   

Further Reading

Managing COVID-19 In Early Childhood Services - The following provides information for early childhood services in NSW that includes Managing Positive Cases, COVID - 19 Contacts Within A Service, RAT, Cleaning, Letter To Contacts and more. 

Managing Positive COVID-19 Cases In NSW ECEC Services - The following flow chart developed by NSW Health provides the steps services should follow if you are notified of a positive case that attended the service while infectious.

Minimising The Risk of Exposure To COVID-19 In Early Childhood Settings - It's important that all Educators currently working in services take care of their health and safety as well as others including children, parents and visitors. The following article provides Safe Work Australia recommendation strategies. 

For more information: 
COVID - 19, NSW Health
COVID-19 ECEC Services, NSW Health