UPDATE SATURDAY, JULY 18 10.30AM
Trinity College Colac will close for deep cleaning and contact tracing on Monday after a Year 12 student tested positive for COVID-19.
Trinity College Colac principal Paul Clohesy said in a statement this morning that following advice from the DHHS and the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria Ltd (CECV), the school will be closed for all students and staff on Monday July 20.
This closure will allow time for the school and the DHHS to work through a contact and containment strategy and for the school to ensure a thorough deep clean of our school has taken place.
See the school’s statement here.
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FRIDAY, JULY 17 at 4pm
Trinity College Colac should open as normal on Monday morning, but will undergo deep cleaning after a student’s family member tested positive for coronavirus.
College principal Paul Clohesy addressed staff, the student’s classmates and parents this afternoon, confirming that a student had left the college during the day to be COVID tested after a family member tested positive this morning.
He reiterated that it was a student’s family member, and not the student, who had tested positive, but assured the college community that they would be updated if the situation changed.
Mr Clohesy said the school’s COVID protocol was that if a student or staff member tested positive, the school would close for a deep clean and reopen once cleaning was complete.
But he said a deep clean would happen from this afternoon throughout the weekend as a precaution and to reassure the community.
“The student hasn’t tested positive, a family member has tested positive,” Mr Clohesy said.
“We don’t have to, but we have made a decision to start a deep clean this afternoon.
“We have only been back a week (after school holidays) obviously, but we will clean all the areas that the student has been, we will hopefully get that done over the weekend.
“If it wasn’t to be finished over the weekend, and the student tests positive in that time, we would close the school until that was finished.
“We believe that the clean will be done in that time and the school will open as normal on Monday.”