This guidance will assist staff in addressing coronavirus (COVID-19) in educational settings. This includes childcare, schools, further and higher educational institutions.

The strategy outlined in this guidance is containment (i.e. to reduce opportunities for transmission to contacts in the community) and is based on the Canadian context and public health assumptions that reflect the currently available scientific evidence and expert opinion.

What schools will need to do during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Effective prevention of communicable diseases in schools/centres not only safeguard the health of children and staff by minimising the harm caused by the diseases, but also ensure a delightful learning environment to support the healthy development of children.

School closures may delay the epidemic peak of the next influenza pandemic, but whether school closure can delay the peak until pandemic vaccine is ready to be deployed is uncertain.

Recommendations for the education sector, governments and the international community to get children back into school and learning.

These guidelines were designed to assist schools to prevent or minimise the spread of infection, illness and disease to staff, pupils and others (such as student teachers and volunteers). They were primarily developed for use by teachers in primary and secondary schools.

Experience with pandemic (H1N1) 2009 in many countries has demonstrated the importance in some communities of schools in amplifying transmission of the pandemic virus – both within schools and the wider community.