Kindergartens and long daycare centres are to receive free rapid antigen test kits to help manage COVID-19 outbreaks and limit disruption to children’s learning.
Announcing the move, Minister for Early Childhood, Ingrid Stitt said supplying test kits to the services would bring them into line with the testing and quarantine arrangements in Victorian schools.
“Eligible kindergarten and long daycare services can opt-in to the program to receive at-home rapid antigen test kits for children who have been identified as primary close contacts – reducing both quarantine time and pressure on families, while ensuring early childhood settings are as low-risk as possible,” Ms Stitt said.
“The rapid antigen tests will be provided for free to kindergarten and long daycare services who have a system to collect, record and hold the testing information and parents and carers will opt-in for their children to be part of the scheme,” she said.
“Once tests have been delivered to services, children can return to their early childhood service after seven days of quarantine if they get a negative standard PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test on day six at their local testing site, and then return a negative rapid antigen test result each day they attend their early childhood service from days eight to 14.”
Ms Stitt said the tests were now available to early childhood services subject to outbreaks and would be distributed to eligible services by the end of the week, ready to be used from Monday (22 November).
The Minister said the tests indicated a result for COVID-19 within 15-30 minutes and families would be required to report test results to the early childhood service each morning prior to attending.