Expert warns ‘profoundly disappointing’ decision to close schools is ‘hurting children’

A paediatrician with qualifications in epidemiology has warned the “profoundly disappointing” decision to shut schools during Victoria’s fourth lockdown is “hurting children”.

Murdoch Children’s Research Institute group leader, Professor Fiona Russell, says analysis from last year revealed Victorian children suffered as a result of lockdowns which included school closures.

“In Victorian children … the decline in emotional wellbeing was actually double the national average,” she told Ross and Russel.

“The greatest harm that COVID has had in Australia is not adults and the elderly, it’s really the indirect harm on school aged children.”

Professor Russell called for a national COVID-19 plan which prioritises schools.

“Teachers and school staff need to be vaccinated, they should be in 1B,” she said.

Press PLAY below for more on the impact remote learning has on kids