The South Australian branch of the teachers' union will apologise for what Premier Steven Marshall described as a "grubby attack" against the state's Chief Public Health Officer, Nicola Spurrier.

Key points: The photoshopped image was posted on social media last night

The photoshopped image was posted on social media last night The union said it would remove the image and apologise to Dr Spurrier

The union said it would remove the image and apologise to Dr Spurrier However, it also said teachers had not been given adequate guidance ahead of term 2.

An image of Dr Spurrier's face and her signature had appeared on an SA Health social media message to parents and carers, advising them that it is now safe to send their children back to school, kindergarten and day care.

Yesterday, the SA branch of the Australian Education Union (AEU) published a different version of the post on social media, edited to include dirty hand prints and the words "seriously, Spurrier".

"It may look good on paper, but how long will it last when school's back?" the post stated.

The post was soon condemned by Premier Marshall on Twitter as a "grubby attack on a South Australian champion which the AEU must immediately take down and apologise for".

The offending post was later removed from the AEU's SA branch Facebook page. ( Twitter: PMalinauskasMP )

"Professor Nicola Spurrier has helped keep South Australians safe and calm during a global pandemic," Mr Marshall stated.

"Politicians are fair game. Not our public health officials."

Deputy Premier Vickie Chapman also condemned the post and said the union's actions were "very disappointing".

Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas tweeted that the union had "got this one wrong", although the AEU was entitled to advocate for its members, he said.

"They should not attack a hard-working public servant like Nicola Spurrier who is doing her best to serve our state at this critical time," Mr Malinauskas said.

"I think the AEU is entitled to advocate their members' interests but I think they've gone completely off course by deciding to attack one of the finest South Australians we have at the moment … who is doing an outstanding job at keeping South Australians safe."

Dr Spurrier recently wrote to school communities regarding the latest advice. ( ABC News: Michael Clements )

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The union's SA president Lara Golding told ABC Radio Adelaide this morning she had asked for the post to be taken down and would personally apologise to Dr Spurrier.

However, she said teachers had not been given adequate guidance on how to implement social distancing measures within schools, nor adequate funding to ensure staff and student safety in the classroom amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Ms Golding said the union would apologise to Dr Spurrier. ( ABC News )

Ms Golding said teachers wanted to follow official medical advice from Dr Spurrier, including that students should keep 1.5 metres away from each other at all times, but lacked the necessary guidance to implement the measure.

"Our members are highly concerned … they really don't know what they're walking into on Monday," she said.

"Our concerns are that there have been guidelines put forward by the chief medical officers and we're not confident that, without additional funding support or guidance, they can be adhered to in SA."