Two more NSW residents have died from Covid-19 as the state recorded another 882 local cases of the virus overnight and Premier Gladys Berejiklian finally revealed when school students will return to the classroom.
The deaths were two men in their 60s and 90s – both of whom had underlying health conditions and had received only one Covid-19 vaccination dose.
Ms Berejiklian announced the state’s schools will return to face-to-face learning from October 25.
The state’s crisis cabinet is understood to have considered scrapping the vital exams entirely this year because study and teaching has been thrown into chaos by lockdown.
But the potential mental health damage was considered too great and the October return and November HSC plan was reportedly approved instead.
A Sydneysider walks in Bondi in the city’s eastern suburbs on Friday morning during the ninth week of lockdown restrictions
Campbelltown LGA residents are pictured outside the Glenquarie vaccination hub on Friday
Thousands of students in New South Wales are reportedly set to return to their desks in October to face delayed HSC exams which will now be held in November. (Pictured, a student waiting to be vaccinated at Sydney’s Qudos Arena pop-up clinic)
The state government has been trying to vaccinate all 75,000 Year 12 students to enable the return to class ahead of the intense four-week exam schedule.
NSW hit an Australian-record 1,029 Covid cases on Thursday with three more unvaccinated people dying, aged in their 30s, 60s and 80s.
The age demographic of those being infected by the deadly Delta variant has skewed much younger, with 5,389 cases of those aged 10-19 now in Australia.
As numbers continue to rise, plans have also been considered to restrict face-to-face exams to areas where Covid cases are low, according to The Guardian.
However this appears to have been dismissed for unfairly punishing students in the 12 local government areas of concern in Sydney’s west and south-west.
The NSW state government has been trying to vaccinate all 75,000 Year 12 students ahead of the intense four-week exam schedule to enable the return to class. (Pictured, students being vaccinated at Sydney’s Qudos Arena pop-up clinic)
With Covid numbers continuing to rise in NSW, plans have also reportedly been considered to restrict face to face exams to areas where Covid cases are low. (Pictured, a stock image of students in class at a Sydney school)
Ms Berejiklian has meanwhile dropped a major hint that Sydney will be freed from lockdown on October 18 when NSW reaches a 70 per cent Covid-19 vaccination rate.
The premier on Thursday said the state was seven weeks away from vaccinating 70 per cent of its eligible population – which would trigger a significant easing of the state’s stay-at-home restrictions.
The state government is working towards October 18 as NSW’s likely re-opening date once that target is reached, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
In the meantime, Ms Berejiklian is considering trialing industries where both customers and staff are vaccinated including salons and hairdressers to prepare for a larger reopening of the hospitality industry.
Greater freedoms are on their way for vaccinated residents in NSW with the government earmarking a date of October 18 for the state’s reopening (pictured, masked Sydneysiders in lockdown)
Those small-scale ‘trials’ will be a litmus test for the wide-scale easing of hospitality capacity limits as long as they aren’t linked to high levels of transmission.
Ms Berejiklian has rallied industries, including pubs and restaurants, to prepare for the mid-October date.
The premier on Thursday said she was already working with industry leaders to prepare plans to reopen at that time.
‘We’re calling upon industry and citizens to get ready for when we hit that 70 per cent double dose. We are already starting to work with industry stakeholders on how we can go back to safely open up,’ she said on Thursday.
‘Get fully vaccinated, you still have time to make sure that when you start opening up, you have those options to live a freer life.’
Greater freedoms for vaccinated Australians have already been granted for the coming weeks as the state plans its roadmap out of the relentless lockdown.
Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant (pictured, right, with Gladys Berejiklian on Thursday) is working towards an October 18 reopening for the state
Outdoor gatherings of up to five immunised people living outside of LGAs of concern are permitted from September 13, including an extra hour of outdoor recreational activity for vaccinated residents in hotspots.
While the government admitted a jump to 80 per cent vaccination rate was difficult, they were confident 70 per cent is a more realistic target.
Ms Berejiklian said she was committed to giving people freedom despite sky-rocketing case numbers.
A Dubbo Domino’s takeaway shop is also listed as Covid-19 exposure site after being visited by a positive case
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian granted Sydneysiders some freedom from September 13 allowing outdoor gatherings of up to five people who are fully vaccinated (pictured, residents exercising during Sydney’s lockdown)
More than 80 per cent of Thursday’s new cases were found in west and south-west Sydney (pictured, shoppers in Ashfield in the city’s inner-west)
The greater freedoms were announced on Thursday which included an extra hour of recreational activity for fully vaccinated residents in hotspot LGAs (pictured, locked-down residents enjoying takeaway coffee)
‘We’re a government that assesses the risk but also assesses our wish to live with this virus,’ she said.
‘We know that people coming together is what people miss the most.’
‘From the various options we looked at, that was the option that met the mental health needs and wellbeing of our community, but also provided the lowest-risk setting.’
Residents taking advantage of the new rules will need to carry proof they are fully-vaccinated at all times.
The new freedoms come after NSW hit Ms Berejiklian’s target of getting six million jabs in arms by the end of August a week early.