Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced schools will remain open for now amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The government has just banned all indoor non-essential gatherings of 100 or more people, however that doesn't include things like schools, universities and childcare facilities.
There have been several schools close across the country but that has been at the administrator's discretion.
Mr Morrison explained that the decision on not to close schools nationwide was made after extensive advice from health officials.
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"Interestingly, this is also what Singapore has done. Singapore has been one of the more successful countries. In Singapore, the schools are open," the Prime Minister said.
"In Singapore they have been quite effective in managing and limiting the transmission of this virus in that country.
"The health advice here, supported by all the premiers, all the chief ministers and my Government is that schools should remain open.
"There are a number of reasons for this. The first one is that the virus operates very differently amongst younger people. It has a different manifestation amongst younger people and that presents a very different health challenge to the broader population.
"In terms of the health and welfare of our children, many of us here are parents and obviously we are concerned about the health of our kids and the health advice that I'm happy to follow for my kids, for Jenny and my kids, is the same health advice I am asking all other parents around the country to follow."
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that the only reason that children shouldn't go to school is if they're sick.
Chief medical officer Dr Brendan Murphy added that even during the worst outbreaks of the flu, school closures are kept to a minimum.
He said: "This is quite different to influenza and other respiratory diseases which have quite severe disease sometimes in children. We know that even in influenza, school closures are a controversial issue.
"We believe very strongly that it's in the best interest of our children and the nation at this time to keep schools open.
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"There may be occasions when there's a big outbreak in a community that some local school closures might be necessary. But at this time, across the community, our view is that schools should stay open."
He said that school assemblies should be avoided to stop too many people in one room at one time, and ensure students adhere to social distancing and proper hygiene.
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