Private schools evacuated after confirmed COVID-19 cases

Private schools evacuated after confirmed COVID-19 cases

A Year 7 student at Waverley College in Sydney and a Year 5 student at neary Moriah College have tested positive for COVID-19, prompting the schools to ask parents to collect their children as a precaution.

The schools are the third and fourth in Sydney to close in less than two weeks, after a Year 7 student at St Ignatius' College Riverview and a staff member at Werrington Public School contracted the virus.

The students from Waverley and Moriah Colleges have since gone into self-isolation while health authorities conduct contract tracing and deep cleaning.

The news comes as NSW students begin returning to classrooms today as COVID-19 restrictions ease across the state.

In the space of 137 days, COVID-19 has infected 5.4 million people and killed 345,000 worldwide. Health experts say that while nations are working around the clock to find a vaccine, it could take up to 18 months before one is ready.

As COVID-19 infections continued to close down schools in the wake of Term 2, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) insist it is safe for children to return to the classroom.