Opposition leader Mia Davies said the government’s decision to close Winterfold Primary School in Beaconsfield after a positive COVID-19 case on the first day of term will cause further confusion in the community.

The school is closed from today to allow further testing after a teacher in a Year 3/4 class tested positive, a move Ms Davies told Gareth Parker on 6PR Breakfast would cause angst for school parents and the wider community.

“The [education] minister said schools would be the first to open and the last to close…. so I understand the anxiety of the people who are contacting your program this morning,” she told Parker.

“If everything that we’ve seen happen in the eastern states comes to pass here in WA – as the Premier has been warning – then the reality is that that will be quite likely.

“So that’s why it is important that we have rules that allow our community to continue to operate, and they need to be clear and concise.”

Education Minister Sue Ellery said the circumstances that forced the school to close and nearly all its teachers into quarantine were unique.

The infected teacher had attended an all-staff professional development day last Friday, before teaching a class on Monday, prompting 55 staff, 27 students and their families to be placed into 14 days of isolation.

Tap PLAY below to hear more of their chat on the closure and wider implications.