22 new COVID cases in NSW

There have been 22 new cases of coronavirus in New South Wales up to 8pm on Monday, with a third of the new cases linked to an outbreak at a Sydney school.

There have been 22 new COVID cases in NSW. Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

There have been 22 new cases of coronavirus in New South Wales up to 8pm on Monday, with eight of those linked to a new cluster at a school in Sydney’s northwest.

Five students at Tangara School for Girls in Cherrybrook tested positive, along with one teacher and two social contacts of confirmed cases linked to the school.

The original source of the outbreak is unknown, and Tuesday's diagnoses bring the cluster up to 17 – 11 of those being students.

Four of Tuesday’s new cases are from hotel quarantine, one case has returned from Victoria and one is locally acquired with the source under investigation.

The other 16 cases are locally acquired and linked to known cases.

The Tangara School for Girls senior campus has been closed for two weeks, and the junior school will reopen on Wednesday for parents who are need to send their children to school. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Flavio Brancaleone

Of these, two are contacts of a previously reported case from Batemans Bay Soldiers Club, one attends Batemans Bay High School and the other attends Batemans Bay Public School. Both schools have been closed for cleaning.

Three cases are linked to Our Lady of Mercy College in Parramatta. The school closed for cleaning on Monday, and contact tracing is under way.

One case is linked to the Thai Rock restaurant at Wetherill Park, bringing that cluster to 112.

Tuesday’s numbers mark the state’s highest number of cases since mid-April.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the state was in a “daily battle” to keep the virus transmission under control.

“We’re in a state of high alert,” she said. “My anxiety has not subsided.”

She told reporters on Tuesday she believed the cluster at the Tangara School For Girls would grow, mostly through household contacts, and urged others to be more conscious of their movements and contacts.

“I’m absolutely paranoid about what I do myself,” she said. “The worst thing would be to unintentionally give it to others, and I don’t want people living with the guilt.”

22 new cases of #COVID19 have been diagnosed in NSW between 8pm on 9 August and 8pm on 10 August.

For the latest list of COVID-19 locations, visit: https://t.co/pqkRdfh3cR pic.twitter.com/3taGQZzP27

— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) August 11, 2020

Ms Berejiklian did not say whether she was concerned about the future of schools considering the outbreak in Cherrybrook but appeared to deliver a blow at schools not taking health protocols seriously.

“Schools, in particular non-government schools, cannot undertake those extra-curricular activities you do outside of a pandemic, and I cannot make that message stronger,” she said.

“Whether it’s offsite gathering, whether it’s mingling between students and others in extra curricular activities … we are in a pandemic.

“Every organisation, every entity, needs to abide by the COVID-safe plan.”

The Tangara School for Girls has been closed for deep cleaning. Its senior campus will remain closed until Monday, August 24, and the junior campus will reopen on Wednesday, August 12 for students whose parents need to send their children to school.

All teachers, students and support staff at the secondary school have been ordered to isolate for 14 days and be tested for the virus. Those connected to the junior school are asked to monitor for symptoms and get tested if any arise.