The NSW government has unveiled its long-awaited roadmap for schools to return to face-to-face teaching, as the state recorded 882 COVID-19 cases and two deaths.
Key points:
- High case numbers mean NSW Health will no longer report the isolation status of new infections
- All school students will be expected to return to classrooms by November 8
- NSW infection figures, including hotel quarantine, have surpassed Victoria
The state government said students would have a "staggered return" to schools from the end of October and would delay HSC exams until November 9.
It also announced vaccinations for school staff would be mandatory by November 8, with priority for jabs given to them from September 6.
Mask wearing will also be mandatory for staff and high school students, and "strongly encouraged" for primary school students.
The schools announcement comes as high infection numbers mean NSW Health will no longer report the isolation status of new cases, and whether they’re linked to known clusters daily.
“With current case volumes, this data is not a meaningful representation of case investigations,” a spokesperson said.
This data will now be included in a weekly report.
Overnight, two men, aged in their 60s and 90s, died from COVID-19.
Both men had one dose of the vaccine, and had underlying health conditions.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said a significant number of new infections were being detected in Sydney's west and south-west.
"It's actually more than 80 per cent, and we do today also want to call out people living in the local government area of Camden and people living in the rest of the local government area of Penrith," she said.
ABC News: Tim Swanston
)A revised timetable and guidelines will be released next month but the government expects HSC marking will not be finalised until mid-January.
NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said the plan was to return students into classrooms in a "safe and sensible way".
"I'm excited we have a plan to have our students back in the classroom and I'm sure teachers would agree [as well as] parents, who I know many are doing their best learning from home but it can be a bit of a challenge," Ms Mitchell said.
Premier Berejiklian did not clarify whether teachers would lose their jobs or be refused access to campus if they refused to get vaccinated.
She said 70 per cent of teachers had already received their first dose.
"We are working through those issues, but many nations around the world have mandated the teachers to be fully vaccinated," she said.
Kindergarten and Year 1 students will be the first to return on October 25, followed by Year 2, 6 and 11 students on November 1.
The remainder of students will be able to return from November 8.Year 12 students already have limited access to school campuses for the remainder of term three, but will return full time from October 25.
Ms Mitchell said the decision to return the youngest pupils back as a priority was the right thing to do.
"Those formative years are just essential and if you are a student in kindergarten or Year 1, you haven't had a year at school that hasn't been disrupted by learning from home," the education minister said.
The number of COVID-19 infections in NSW (22,157) since the start of the pandemic has now passed Victoria.
The figure includes cases detected in NSW's hotel quarantine program.
Of today's 882 cases, 97 infections were detected in regional NSW local health districts (LHD).
Forty of those were in Western NSW, which covers Dubbo.
Based on locally acquired cases, NSW still trails Victoria by about 1,800 infections.
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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiXmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIxLTA4LTI3L25zdy1yZWNvcmRzLTg4Mi1jb3ZpZC0xOS1jYXNlcy1hbmQtdHdvLWRlYXRocy8xMDA0MTIwNDbSAShodHRwczovL2FtcC5hYmMubmV0LmF1L2FydGljbGUvMTAwNDEyMDQ2?oc=5
2021-08-27 01:05:06Z
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