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Fresh virus alert closes schools in NSW South Coast holiday town

NSW had nine more COVID cases on Thursday.

NSW had nine more COVID cases on Thursday. Photo: Getty

Three new coronavirus cases have been confirmed on the NSW South Coast, where two schools have shut as a result.

NSW health authorities say one student from Batemans Bay Public School and two students from Batemans Bay High School have tested positive to the virus.

“All staff and students are asked to self-isolate while contact tracing occurs,” a statement from the high school read.

“They’re likely to both reopen on Wednesday for on-site teaching and learning, subject to the thorough cleaning process being completed,” the NSW Department of Education’s Murat Dizdar told the ABC.

The Batemans Bay outbreak comes several weeks after an earlier cluster linked to the town’s soldiers’ club grew to eight cases.

NSW Health will set up a pop-up coronavirus testing clinic in the town for the rest of the week.

They are also working to trace trace the source of a COVID-19 cluster associated with an independent Catholic school in north-west Sydney.

There are 11 cases linked to an outbreak at Tangara Girls School in Cherrybrook.

Eleven cases have so far been linked to Tangara School for Girls in Cherrybrook, including seven students and at least one teacher.

The school has closed its secondary campus until August 24 and its junior campus until at least Wednesday after the first COVID-19 case linked to the Opus Dei-connected school – a student – was diagnosed last week.

NSW Health said the source of the Tangara outbreak remained unclear, and all secondary students and staff were in self-isolation and being tested.

Five of the 14 cases reported in NSW on Monday were connected to the school, with two more identified after the deadline for case numbers. These will be included in Tuesday’s numbers.

Nearby in Pennant Hills, St Agatha’s Catholic Church being cleaned after a parishioner who visited on August 5 and 6 tested positive to the virus, as is PharmaSave Pharmacy in Cherrybrook, after an infected employee worked on August 6.

In western Sydney, Bonnyrigg Heights Public School will reopen on Tuesday after closing on Monday for cleaning after a primary school student tested positive, but Kids’ Early Learning Quakers Hill remains closed after children were exposed to the virus.

A second student at Our Lady of Mercy College in Parramatta has also been diagnosed with COVID-19, and the school campus is closed.

NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant has urged people to avoid large gatherings and says older school students are more likely to transmit the virus.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian has reiterated the state is on high alert against the spread of the virus, following a huge outbreak in Victoria.

-with AAP

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