More than half a million state school students have headed back to Queensland classrooms today after a COVID-delayed start to the new school year.
Queensland Chief Health Officer John Gerrard expects daily case numbers to rise despite measures imposed in schools to limit the spread of Omicron.
But he does not expect large numbers of children to be hospitalised -- instead officials are more concerned about the risk to grandparents.
"The bigger risk in terms of hospitalisations is more the child bringing the virus home to the parents and grandparents, particularly if the grandparents aren't boosted," Dr Gerrard said.
As of February 6, only 39 per cent of Queenslanders aged 16 and over had received their third dose, according to the ABC's vaccine tracker.
Dr Gerrard said 268 Queenslanders have died since the state's borders opened on December 13.
Mixed feelings about the return to school
For some parents, the return to the school grounds was a relief after the long summer break.
Others were anxious about the risk of infection — to their children and vulnerable family members.
Brisbane parent Melissa Ling said her daughter Olivia was excited to start year two with classmate Jacob Anthony.
Neither Olivia nor Jacob have been vaccinated, their mothers said, for different reasons, including vaccine hesitancy and anxiety about needles.
As of Sunday, only 38.77 per cent of Queensland children aged 5 to 11 had received their first dose of vaccine.
Queensland Teachers Union (QTU) president Cresta Richardson urged parents to consider official health advice when it came to vaccinating their children.
"We definitely all have a part to play in relation to vaccination," she said.
Other measures have been imposed to slow the spread of the virus.
From today until March 4, masks are mandatory for all high school children and highly recommended for children in years three to six.
The government said classroom ventilation had been improved, and where it could not, air purifiers would be provided.
Only the parents of children in kindergarten, prep and year one are allowed onto school grounds, and all large gatherings including assemblies and camps are postponed.
If children become sick at school, they will be isolated, and parents will be provided with a rapid antigen test (RAT) for use at home to determine if their child has COVID-19.
Pool of relief staff available
Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said the education department was well prepared to handle COVID-19 outbreaks.
"They have a pool of relief staff that they can call in at short notice to fill in for teachers," Ms D'Ath said.
"They have plans to potentially consolidate classes, if need be, to ensure that they can manage any shortage of staff.
"Those extra two weeks that we have given education to work with health and work out those strategies have made all the difference."
But Opposition education spokesman Christian Rowan said he had several concerns regarding students returning to school including poor ventilation.
"The government has said here in Queensland that all classrooms are air-conditioned," Dr Rowan said.
"However, under the Cleaner Cooler Schools Program, we've seen many examples over the last 18 months where air-conditioning was installed but they're not able to be turned on."
Vulnerable parents 'forgotten'
But some parents said the government's back-to-school plan had not properly considered people who were immunocompromised or lived with a disability.
Brisbane parent Brooke Mott has multiple sclerosis (MS) and is nervous about sending their two children, Zara and Levi, to school.
"I have compromised immunity. The risk if I get COVID of flaring my condition is quite high," they said.
Brooke said the family was vaccinated and had been staying away from large crowds to avoid infection, but school posed a major risk for people like them.
"I feel like we've just been completely forgotten about to be honest," they said.
"I think people have kind of relaxed a little and that's scary, because somebody's family gets it, their children get it, their children bring it to school and then it makes its way to our family and we can't control any of that."
Unlike in some southern states, Queensland authorities have opted not to give parents rapid antigen tests to regularly screen their children for COVID-19.
Brooke said regular testing of children before they go to school would be "helpful".
"You're going to stop a positive case making it into the school environment in the first place," they said.
When asked what immunocompromised people should do to protect themselves, Dr Gerrard advised them to consult with their specialist to come up with an individualised plan.
Brooke said they would consider keeping their children at home if the number of cases at their school escalates.
If that happened, they said, their children — aged 7 and 8 — would need home learning support.
"There should be something in place — these children need to learn," they said.
The Queensland government said schools would only close as a "last resort".
"This is not like 2021 — there are not major plans to shut down schools," Dr Gerrard said.
"Our goal is not to completely contain this virus. Our goal is to minimise hospitalisations."
