Dear Colleagues,

Thank you for your continuing work to implement steps recommended by NSW Health to contain human swine influenza.

We've now had confirmation from NSW Health that a small number of NSW government school students have tested positive to human swine influenza.

These children haven't attended school during any period where they would have been infectious.

Parents of students at each affected school have been advised.

The actions to contain the spread of the virus in NSW, including targeted exclusion from school, have been effective to date.

According to NSW Health there are 70 confirmed cases of human influenza in NSW, and still no confirmed cases of community transmission.

This is not the case in Victoria. Despite the best efforts of all involved, there is widespread community transmission of the virus in Melbourne with the number of confirmed cases increasing rapidly.

It is due to the changing situation in Victoria that NSW Health late today announced that from tomorrow, children and school staff who have travelled to greater metropolitan Melbourne will be required to stay away from school for seven days after their return to NSW. 

This is the same policy that we have had in place for overseas travellers returning from countries affected by human swine influenza.

I know that some of our school staff and students are attending tonight's State of Origin rugby league match in Melbourne.  Based on the advice from NSW Health, those school staff and students should not return to school until after the seven day exclusion period.

If any of your staff and students coming to school tomorrow, Thursday 4 June, were in Melbourne the previous day or overnight, you will need to advise them they need to be in home quarantine. This will need to take effect immediately and parents will have to be contacted to collect their child. These students should be kept separate from the general school population.

This exclusion from school will allow time for any illness related to that travel to develop, and for prompt assessment and treatment to commence. If the person remains well after seven days they can return to school.

It is important that principals keep forwarding the Influenza Situation Reports to the Occupational Health and Safety Directorate. The form is available on the intranet.

We will update the Mitigation and Management Guidelines to help principals through this situation. These can be located at; https://detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/adminandmanage/ohands/hsi/index.htm

NSW Health has advised that a number of principals have contacted public health units to obtain information about test results for students who may have been tested.

Please don't do this. The information is private and can't be provided to you. If there is information you should have to manage the safety of your staff and students, I'm assured that public health staff will make contact with you.

I'd also like to remind everyone that you should refer any media enquires about the human swine influenza to the media unit for action.

For more information about human swine influenza, please refer to the department's intranet site:
https://detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/adminandmanage/ohands/hsi/index.htm 

For advice on how to manage a situation at your school, please contact the Occupational Health and Safety Directorate on 9266 8958 or email influenza@det.nsw.edu.au.

Please make arrangements for this updated information to be provided to all staff, parents and carers as soon as possible.

Thanks again for your cooperation. I will keep you up to date with relevant information.

Could you please also contact your School Education Director by 9am on Thursday 4 June 2009, to confirm that you have received this email.

With my best regards, 

Michael Coutts-Trotter
DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
MANAGING DIRECTOR OF TAFE NSW
3 June 2009