Premier Gladys Berejiklian has issued a reminder to organisations such as non-government schools that they need to be adhering to their COVID-safe plans after five of the 14 new cases announced on Monday were linked to an independent Catholic school.
Five of the new cases were linked to Tangara School for Girls at Cherrybrook in Sydney's north-west, including four students and a household contact.
In Victoria, 19 people have died of COVID-19 in the past day as the state recorded 322 new cases. It's Australia's deadliest day of the pandemic, taking the national death toll to 314.
Tangara Girls School in Cherrybrook is closed due to two COVID-19 infections.Credit:Edwina Pickles
On Monday morning, an additional teacher and student at Tangara have tested positive for the virus, and they will be counted in Tuesday's numbers. That brings the cluster size to nine people including six students. The original source of the cluster is unknown.
Tangara's secondary school will be closed until August 24. The junior school campus will reopen on Wednesday for students who cannot learn from home.
The Catholic school, administered by the Opus Dei-run Parents for Education Foundation, is known for having a number of larger families enrolled.
A second student has also tested positive at Our Lady of Mercy College at Parramatta, which is closed for cleaning today. She will also be counted in tomorrow's numbers.
Ms Berejiklian issued a specific reminder to organisations such as non-government schools that they needed to be adhering to their COVID-safe plans.
"Everybody who manages an organisation or managers a non-government school or any other entity that large gatherings or mixing between organisations or between schools, is something which is not allowable under the covered under the COVID rules," she said.
Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said when it comes to older school students, they can behave more like adults and therefore their risk of transmission can be higher.
"We still know and believe that the younger students such as primary school students are not likely to be infecting [each other], but as you get older, your behaviour is more like ... an adult in terms of characteristics and risks of transmission," she said.
She said the investigation surrounding the source of the cluster was ongoing, with the focus of inquiries on extra-curricular activities.
Three cases in Monday's numbers are linked to the Bankstown funeral cluster, bringing the size of that cluster to 63.
Bonnyrigg Heights Public School is also closed after a student tested positive. Early Learning Quakers Hill long daycare centre has also closed after an employee worked while infectious.
In addition to these school cases, one of the 14 new cases was in a returned traveller, one was acquired in Victoria and one was locally acquired with no links to other cases at this point.
The new cases bring the total number of cases in the state since the start of the pandemic to 3686.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison extended his "sincere condolences to families of 19 Australians in Victoria who have passed away because of the COVID infection".
Mr Morrison said the "news is devastating no matter what age COVID affects people".
But the Prime Minister said he had received briefings over the weekend that led him to be "more hopeful than I was" about the improvement in the numbers of cases in Victoria.
More to come
Alexandra Smith is the State Political Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald.
Mary Ward is a reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.
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2020-08-10 01:32:00Z
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