COVID-19 in Victorian ECEC and Schools Report

The Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) undertook an analysis of the global literature and available Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) and school outbreak data, 25 January 2020 – 31 August 2020, from the Victorian State Government Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to explore 5 key questions:

• What is known about the direct and indirect effects of COVID-19 on children and adolescents?

• What is known globally about the role of ECEC and schools in transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus)?

• What are other countries doing to enable children and teachers to go back to school safely: which mitigation measures are being proposed?

• What do the Victorian data tell us about transmission of the virus in our educational settings?

• What evidence-based recommendations could enable ECEC and schools to open up safely?