Bradbury Public School principal Michelle Lester issued a letter to parents on Thursday night advising “additional member sof our school community have tested positive’ for the virus.Ms Lester said the school will be closed all day Friday for cleaning to commence.“Our school will be non-operational effective immediately for the on-site attendance of staff and students to allow time for contact tracing,” she said.“NSW Health has requested anyone who has been unwell or if you develop any symptoms such as a fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, loss of smell/taste, muscle/joint pains, diarrhoea, nausea/vomiting or extreme tiredness to be tested.”Ms Lester said the Department of Education was working closely with NSW Health to ensure students and staff remain safe.“The safety and wellbeing of our staff and students is of paramount importance to us at all times,” she said.“While we recognise this will be disruptive and inconvenient for families, it is important that we follow NSW Health advice and take all necessary precautions to minimise the risk of further transmission to support our community.”Parents of the school have expressed concerns as this is the second time this week the school has alerted families of a positive case.On Monday the school sent out another letter advising parents of students who were close contacts to get tested immediately.Angie Fenton, a parent of children at the school, told the Macarthur Chronicle she is “extremely” worried about the situation.“This is the second time this week, it’s inconvenient but the right thing to do,” Ms Fenton said.“The school has been very cagey and vague about supplying information.”Ms Fenton said the email distributed to parents was the only information she had been given, and does not know how many people have Covid or whether it is students or staff.“It is really frustrating, at the moment all students are isolating until NSW Health contact us if we are a close contact,” she said.Bradbury preschool has also been closed and has had two positive cases in the past week.A Department of Education spokesman said schools were “expecting to have an increase in the number of Covid cases” due to more students returning to the classroom.“On average a school is closed for less than 24 hours to allow for contact tracing and cleaning,” the spokesman said.“All schools have robust Covid-safe plans in place and are taking extra precautions to reduce the risk of Covid-19 transmission on-site to minimise any disruptions to learning.“This includes masks, mandatory vaccination of all staff and teachers and cohorting. We have well established protocols in place with NSW Health to manage confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 on school grounds.”Bradbury Public School has been contacted for comment.
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