Abbreviations

Table 2. An example of opening up ECEC and schools safely according to the Victorian Coronavirus Road to Recovery, by colour-code and geographical area.

LGA: Local Government Area. ECEC: Early Childhood Education and Care. VCE: Victorian Certificate of Education.

Gather data and evidence in term 4 to inform future education and health policy

There are a number of gaps in our knowledge such as transmission from asymptomatic children, the direction of transmission to, from and within ECEC and schools, and how best to informl closures based on balancing safety against the associated potential academic and wellbeing impacts. In addition to minimising risk of viral transmission, it is crucial that the indirect effects of physical distancing, isolation, and ECEC and school closures are measured and addressed. Nevertheless, these gaps in knowledge are not a reason to delay ECEC and schools re-opening. To address these gaps, we need to monitor and investigate transmission together with wellbeing and mental health impacts in ECEC and schools to inform medium term policy decisions. Therefore, further research should be undertaken.

Abbreviation Term

CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Coronavirus-19 disease CRISIS tool The CoRonavIruS Health Impact Survey DET Department of Education and Training, Victoria DHHS Department of Health and Human Services, Victoria

ECEC EAA EU Early Childhood Education and Care European Economic Area European Union

GRADE

IQR LGA The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach Interquartile range Local Government Area

MERS MCRI Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Murdoch Children's Research Institute

n NP NPI PHESS PPE

Total number of participants in the sample under study Nasopharyngeal Non-pharmaceutical interventions Public Health Events Surveillance System Personal Protective Equipment R Reproductive number REDCap Research Electronic Data Capture R0 Basic reproductive number RT-PCR Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction SARS Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 1 SARS-CoV-2 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 sKIDs Study COVID-19 Surveillance in school KIDs - COVID-19 Surveillance in Children attending preschool, primary and secondary schools study, Public Health England40

UK USA United Kingdom United States of America

VCE WHO Victorian Certificate of Education The World Health Organization

40 Public Health England. Covid-19 Surveillance in School Kids (Skid) Study Protocol. 1.4 ed. England: PHE, 2020. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/904207/sKIDS_protocol_v1.4.pdf. COVID-19 in Victorian Schools | 15