Australia’s rate of new COVID-19 infections has been sustained at levels much lower than other countries for weeks, but the country has so far retained strict social distancing rules that have closed businesses and confined people to their homes, Reuters reports.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned on Wednesday the nation’s children could become the silent victims of the coronavirus pandemic, as officials investigate new nursing home cluster.
Morrison urged teachers to return to classrooms across the country to join “great heroes” like the medical staff and supermarket workers, stressing the risk that children from disadvantaged families, in particular, lose a year of education.
“At this time, as our nation fights this coronavirus, your role has become even more important,” Morrison said in a video address posted on his official Facebook page. “The education of our children hangs in the balance.”
According to Reuters, the Australian leader’s plea risks reopening cracks between the federal government and various state jurisdictions over the thorny issue of whether children should be attending school while much of the country is in lockdown mode.
Australia has reported around 6,400 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, and 61 deaths, with the rate of daily increases in the low single digits for weeks although there have been a handful of new clusters over the past week.
