‘This is the new normal’: Terrifying warning as three Australian schools are closed and a ‘coronavirus cluster’ in Sydney is investigated
- The ‘new normal’ of the global coronavirus outbreak is starting to bite in Sydney
- Three schools, two in Sydney and one in Melbourne, are closed on Tuesday
- Authorities are now investigating a coronavirus cluster centred around Ryde
The ‘new normal’ of the global coronavirus outbreak is starting to bite in Sydney, with schools bracing for temporary closures and fears of lasting economic damage.
Two Year 10 students from St Patrick’s Marist College in Dundas and a Year 7 pupil from Willoughby Girls High School were on Monday confirmed to have coronavirus.
The fathers of the two St Patrick’s students are both Defence Force staff and had previously tested positive for the infection.
NSW authorities are now investigating a coronavirus cluster centred around Ryde Hospital, the Defence Force and the Dorothy Henderson Lodge aged care facility.
Sydney’s deadly ‘coronavirus cluster’: Authorities are investigating an area centred around Ryde Hospital, the Defence Force and the Dorothy Henderson Lodge (pictured)
St Patrick’s Marist College and Willoughby Girls High School will be closed on Tuesday as a precautionary measure.
Both schools were closed on Monday and will remain shut on Tuesday as state authorities said schools with confirmed cases would immediately need to shut for a day.
It comes as Carey Baptist Grammar School, an elite college in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, announced it would close its doors on Tuesday after an adult member of its community developed symptoms consistent with COVID-19.
‘The health and safety of our community is our first priority,’ principal Jonathan Walter wrote in an email sent to parents on Monday night seen by AAP.
Epping Boys’ High reopened on Monday after closing on Friday following the positive test returned by a Year 11 boy.
‘This is likely to be the new norm,’ Health Minister Brad Hazzard said on Monday afternoon.
‘We have established now a clear orthodoxy. If a child or a staff member or any other person within a school is found to have the COVID-19 virus, then effectively a breather will be taken and a day out will be the immediate requirement.’
NSW chief economist Stephen Walters says a state recession isn’t inevitable but is currently a risk.
He says tourism and education are two sectors likely to feel the pinch of the outbreak.
There are 47 confirmed cases in the state. Two residents at a Sydney aged care home have died from the virus.
NSW Health said on Monday evening there were 476 cases under investigation, and almost 8000 people have been tested and cleared of infection.
