Face masks back on for Casino High School students

Casino High School principal Daniel Moar has announced that the wearing of face masks will be reintroduced at school from tomorrow, Thursday, May 19.

“Recently our school community has been experiencing increasing levels of covid exposure and transmission,” Mr Moar wrote on the school’s Facebook page.

“To minimise disruption to face-to-face learning and teaching and reduce in-school transmission of covid, our school has been working closely with the department’s Health & Safety case management team and has decided to temporarily adopt some additional covid-smart measures for the five school days.”

These temporary measures are designed to act as a “circuit breaker” to reduce transmission of covid in our school, he said.

From Thursday, May 19, our school adopt the following measures:

• Physical distancing of at least 1.5 metres will be encouraged for all school staff. This includes in all indoor areas of the school including the staff room.

• Large indoor gatherings will be rescheduled to a later date or held in an outdoor setting if possible. This includes indoor assemblies and events.

• Masks will be required for all school staff and visitors.

• Masks will be required for all high school students (Year 7 and above).

• Non-essential activities will be postponed. This is including, but not limited to, school camps and excursions.

Masks will be provided for any student that does not have one over this time.

The Northern NSW Local Health District reported 462 new covid cases on Wednesday, May 18.

In Richmond Valley there were 47 cases, 11 in Kyogle  and 109 in Lismore.

There are 48 covid patients in hospital in Northern NSW, with two of these in ICU.