Safety ahead of shared experience
health of her 10-year-old child.
“Why wait for it to come here before closing schools,” she said.
“My family in the Philippines have already been locked down a week ago – it’s a good precaution to not get this coronavirus.
“The school should be closing. When we only had one or two cases in Australia why didn’t the government close all the borders? They don’t need to wait for cases to increase before closing the borders and now they are closing them, but it’s too late.
“Don’t they know the saying ‘prevention is better than a cure?’”
The Holloways Beach mother was concerned her son would get behind on his work and had begun to investigate online learning to get around what could be a lengthy period of self-isolation.
“It’s a hard one to know what to do. They have to have some kind of online study options for him to have something at home,” she said.
More than academic concerns was the worry of her son missing out on contact and fun at school with peers, Ms Phillips said.
Schools across Cairns have rolled out anti-infection measures, including cancelling assemblies, sporting events and Easter bonnet parades but according to the Education Minister “expert health advice of chief health and medical officers remains that schools should remain open”.
MORE Australians are working from home each day as employers rush to protect their staff and business from COVID-19.
Telstra, Vodafone, Westpac, Ernst and Young, Atlassian and News Corp are among the growing list of companies asking staff to work remotely in a bid to stop the virus spreading.
For many people, this is their first experience working unsupervised and relying on their own set up and technology.
Experts have shared their advice for working effectively from home.
Corporate psychologist and chief executive and co-founder of software company Shortlyster Rudy Crous said working from home was like having a long distance relationship with your employer.
“Upfront it is important that you have a clear understanding of what the working hours are and what is expected from you during this time,” he said.
“You need to be much more transparent than usual and make sure you set up regular calls to provide updates to your employer (that) include what you are working on, any barriers you are currently facing, and what support you need from your boss/colleagues.”
Mr Crous said workers might feel as though they were