The WA Secretary of the Australia Nursing Federation is calling for schools to be opened for children of essential workers. They also want to see COVID testing clinics open 24-hours a day.

ANF WA Secretary Mark Olson told Oliver Peterson it’s a “no brainer” given essential workers now have to use their sick leave to look after school-aged children.

“It smacks of lack of planning,” said Mr Olson

“Clearly the government must have known that had we had an outbreak where we were going to have to shut the schools, that we would have to have some plan in place for the child care of essential workers.

“The other inconsistency we’ve got is the government saying it’s ok for the children of essential workers to go to childcare but not to schools.”

Mr Olson says nurses are used to working “around the clock”, so it’s “another no brainer” to extend the hours of COVID testing clinics.

“They’ve shut elective surgery freeing up a whole swag of nurses, he said”

“He’s [Premier McGowan] got the capacity to open up these clinics for 24-hours in this crucial period, and that’s what they should be doing.”

Click PLAY to listen: