Key Information from Ministry of Education and Health. See below

• Anyone who chooses to wear a face covering will be supported to do so (students cannot be required to wear face coverings in schools).
• Students aged 12 and above are required to wear a face covering when on public transport (there are some exemptions including for health reasons).
• For school transport, bus drivers are wearing face coverings, but children and young people are not required to wear face coverings.
• Face coverings are an extra protective physical barrier to help keep people safe. Hand washing, good cough and sneeze etiquette, cleaning surfaces regularly, staying away if unwell and physical distancing from people you don’t know all contribute to minimizing spread of illness.
• From Dr Caroline McElnay – Director of Public Health

“With the other public health measures we have put in place in schools and early learning services, coupled with the reduced risk of transmission at Alert Level 2, we consider the risk of infection is low.”

Compared to other places, schools and early learning services are not environments where we have seen significant spread of COVID-19. Household members and work colleagues who are in close contact with people with COVID-19, are the most common sources of transmission.”

See our FAQs for face coverings for further information.