'Isolate your children': Karl Stefanovic questions minister's coronavirus advice for schools

Today host Karl Stefanovic has clashed with Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan over the government’s coronavirus advice to schools as students begin to return to class.

While the government and health authorities are careful not to incite unnecessary panic, the outspoken Today host noted the potentially high stakes of the advice offered by federal authorities as the virus continues to spread.

He called into question the assertion from the education minister that unless people are showing symptoms or have been in direct contact with a confirmed coronavirus patient, they should be in school or childcare.

“With the greatest respect, the advice is changing so quickly ... Last night, it changed in the dead of the night,” Stefanovic said, seemingly referring to Foreign Minister Marise Payne announcing just after midnight advice not travel to central China's Hubei Province.

“Now it is going to evolve into something else. Isn’t it better that we take precautions now and take it to the extreme?

“And we’re talking about the extreme,” he noted.

“Just isolate your kids for two weeks, that is not a big burden, ... Otherwise we run the risk of this thing going and spreading faster than we can take control of.”

However Mr Tehan would not be moved from his position, saying the government would update its stance in line with medical experts.

“(The) advice is unless you’ve been in direct contact with someone who has the virus or is showing symptoms, you are fine to go to school or go to a childcare centre,” he said.

“Individual schools can make their own decisions. But as education minister, with Health Minister Greg Hunt, we’ve got to take the advice of the medical experts. It is medical experts not only here in Australia, but also overseas.”

Health authorities have noted that the virus can remain dormant for two weeks before symptoms appear, which has underpinned calls for students who have travelled to China to be isolated.

‘You are not doing enough’

“The thing is, it seems like a whole lot worse than your position,” Stefanovic told the minister.

“Schools are taking it into their own hands, because they don’t clearly believe you are doing enough at this point and the reality is you don’t have a say do you.”

Schools are run by the states and territories, which have been issuing their own advice on the matter.

The NSW Departments of Health and Education on Tuesday afternoon recommended that any student who was in China over the past 14 days should not return to school or childcare services this week.

NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said it was responding to concerns by making the request to parents as a precaution.

The latest advice from the Queensland state health and education departments is in line with the federal government, saying staff and students are not required to stay away unless they have had contact with someone with a confirmed case of the virus in the last 14 days. The advice is currently the same in Victoria, South Australia.

Meanwhile a number of private schools have been taking matters into their own hands, telling students not to attend school if they have been in China in recent weeks.

The Today host was critical of the federal government’s response to outbreak when informing the public, particularly referring to minister Payne’s 12:14am statement on fresh travel advice.

“This sort of information flow is just weird, and it’s not good enough,” Stefanovic said.

“The problem is you’ve got parents at home not knowing what to do because the information has not been clear and present.”

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‘Shocked by the recklessness’

The government was heavily criticised for seemingly downplaying the seriousness of the current bushfire crisis and all eyes are on how the federal government acts in the face of another national issue with potentially deadly consequences.

On Tuesday, Mr Tehan appeared to rebuke schools for telling students to stay away saying Australia should send a message that the country is open for international students.

The comments raised eyebrows in the media, including that of Network Ten’s political editor Peter Van Onselen.

“I really am shocked by the recklessness of Tehan’s comments,” he wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

“If Tehan really feels so relaxed about the risks he should sit down in a closed room with a large number of people arriving back from over there for days on end to discuss the issue... take his children too, given he expects us to put ours in harm’s way.”

In a press conference shortly before midday Wednesday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison spoke to the public alongside Australia’s chief medical officer Professor Brendan Murphy.

When asked about NSW Health’s differing advice, the PM said “it has gone beyond the (federal) advice and as a parent in New South Wales, I don't have any issue with that.”

He described the state as taking an “abundance of caution”.

“We have also been undertaking our actions with an abundance of caution. We will continue to do that,” he said.

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