Australia news LIVE: NSW records 344 new local COVID-19 cases, two deaths; Victoria records 20 new cases as Melbourne’s lockdown extended by one week

Taking you back to the NSW COVID inquiry... Education Minister Sarah Mitchell says the government fully intends for HSC exams to go ahead in October, despite the challenges in returning year 12 students to school this month.

Contingencies introduced last year – additional exam halls, extra invigilators and COVID-safe exam entries – are back on the agenda as the NSW Education Standards Authority’s COVID-19 committee plans for the tests.

“Of course we are working with health in terms of designing what a COVID-safe HSC exam period looks like,” Ms Mitchell said.

“It is absolutely our intention for exams to go ahead. NESA has already pushed those exams back for a week, which is what we did last year … that work has begun and will continue.”

NESA chief executive Paul Martin said various plans were being thought out and considered.

Yesterday, NESA announced that all HSC performance and oral language exams in the state would be marked by classroom teachers instead of external examiners this year.

West Australian Premier Mark McGowan has unloaded (again) on the NSW government, accusing it of putting the entire country at risk of COVID outbreaks if it abandons plans to reach zero community transmission.

“The NSW government can’t just go out on its own and do something different to what is agreed nationally,” he said.

He is referring to NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s stated desire to ease some restrictions once the state hits 50 per cent vaccination rates. However, she says this does not mean fully reopening Sydney, and the kinds of restrictions eased will be “very different” to those recommended by the Doherty Institute at 70 or 80 per cent double-dose coverage.

“We have to wait until 70 per cent vaccination before we make any changes, NSW just needs to crush and kill the virus, that’s what every other state has done,” Mr McGowan said.

“By allowing the virus to run rampant throughout NSW ... they’re risking the lives of their citizens and they’re risking everyone else. I do not understand why they’re not prepared and they don’t have the backbone to do what is required.”

Mr McGowan indicated WA’s hard border with NSW would be strengthened even further in the coming week, with only a handful of exempt residents being allowed to return home.

“On a daily basis you can virtually count them on two hands, these are Defence officers, government officials, members of Parliament – there’s very few people [arriving] out of NSW,” he said.

“We’re looking at what else can be done to toughen it even further as we speak.”

Here’s a recap of the day so far:

• NSW recorded another 344 local cases of COVID-19, including 101 who were infectious in the community. The regional town of Dubbo is now in a seven-day lockdown, while Premier Gladys Berejiklian predicted the Hunter region’s lockdown will be extended. Education Minister Sarah Mitchell fronted an inquiry into the government’s management of the pandemic and said she could not guarantee a date when students will return to school.
• Victoria’s lockdown has been extended by a further week, until next Thursday, after 20 local cases were reported. Five of those cases are yet to be linked to known clusters.
• Queensland reported four local cases which were all in isolation, while Cairns residents will regain freedom when their three-day lockdown ends at 4pm. Meanwhile, the state’s mass vaccination hub opened with more than 1500 people attending.

• Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has thrown a new obstacle for Scott Morrison to act on climate change, saying the UN climate change report doesn’t have a plan to cost.

Year 12 students in south-west and western Sydney who cannot make their own way to the vaccine hub at Qudos Bank Arena or do not feel comfortable travelling on public transport can now take taxis at the NSW Education Department’s expense, officials have revealed.

There will also be new opportunities for students with a disability to be vaccinated locally if travel to Sydney Olympic Park is difficult.

The changes come after feedback from local MPs and school principals, who were worried earlier this week that the government’s decision to cancel organised transport to the vaccine hub would deter disadvantaged students from getting vaccinated.

As we reported on Monday, the number of HSC students from the nine eligible local government areas who had booked in for their jab this week was significantly below capacity – only about 10,000 of 24,000 appointments were made.

Education Department official Ruth Owen said that figure was now higher, and that more than half of students had booked for their vaccine. As of yesterday afternoon, she said about 6500 students had been vaccinated: Monday was completely booked out and yesterday was almost booked out.

But Ms Owen said she did not have an indication as to how many students were booked in for the rest of the week, and referred questions to the Health Department, which is running the program.

NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said she appreciated feedback from principals and local members, which had helped the government improve the program.

And this was her message to students, “It really is a golden opportunity to go and protect yourself, your family and your student cohort … I can’t hypothesise on what those final numbers will be – we’re only a couple of days in.”

She said the department would aim to provide data on student vaccinations once it was available.

Department Secretary Georgina Harrisson said the department was not currently tracking the vaccination rate of teachers.

“We encourage all our staff to get vaccinated at the first opportunity they have,” she said.

A Sydney man who triggered a snap lockdown in Byron Bay after travelling to the area while infected with COVID-19 will be charged with breaching public health orders.

Zoran Radovanovic, 52, who is now being treated in Lismore Base Hospital, is believed to have travelled to the area to look at real estate, potentially using an exemption contained in NSW COVID-19 restrictions.

Mr Radovanovic, a resident of Rose Bay in Sydney’s east, will be served with a court attendance notice on Wednesday for allegedly breaching public health orders during the trip, NSW Police said in a statement.

Following an initial investigation into the man, who travelled with his teenage children, police allege he did not have a reasonable excuse to be away from his Sydney home.

Read more here.

When will Sydney students return to school? This has been one of the early questions lobbed at NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell as the second day of the COVID-19 inquiry gets under way.

Unsurprisingly, she says she cannot yet give a date.

“We are currently working in terms of a return-to-school plan beyond that date [of August 28, when the current lockdown is scheduled to end]. We haven’t made those decisions yet. Of course we’re looking at what we can do after the 28th of August. I’m really cognisant of the fact learning from home is tough. Despite amazing efforts … it is challenging. I will always advocate for students to be back in the classroom as soon as they can in a safe way,” she said.

Labor MP Courtney Houssos tried to press her on a timeframe: the end of October? The end of the year?

“I will just repeat what I said before,” Ms Mitchell said. “I’m very aware of how challenging learning from home is and, as Education Minister, I want kids back in the classroom as soon as that can happen. We will be in a position to tell parents what to expect within the coming weeks. The 28th of August is still 2½ weeks away … we’ll continue to work with [NSW] Health, with our stakeholders.”

Ms Mitchell and Education Department Secretary Georgina Harrisson were also asked when they learnt of the Premier’s plan to return year 12 students on August 16 – which Gladys Berejiklian announced on July 28 – and when stakeholders such as the teachers’ union found out.

They have not specified a date they found out; they only said they were working closely with stakeholders and colleagues and “have been very much involved in return-to=school plans”. Media reports have suggested many in the sector were surprised by the plan.

Ms Harrisson said the teachers’ union was alerted of the announcement either the evening before or the same morning as the Premier made it. She said the union was told the government “would work with them in partnership for the delivery”. Of course, plans for that delivery then significantly changed in the two weeks afterwards.

Here’s the live stream link again for anyone following along at home:

A third school in NSW has closed today due to a potential COVID-19 exposure.

Ryde Secondary College in Sydney’s north-west has closed for cleaning and contact tracing after a member of the school community tested positive, a NSW Education spokesperson said in a statement.

“All staff and students are asked to self-isolate until they receive further advice,” the spokesperson said.

It comes after Fennell Bay Public School in the state’s Hunter region and Dubbo West Public School in the Central West announced they would be shutting their doors today following cases.

A case has also been detected in a member of the school community at Chifley College at Mount Druitt, in Sydney’s west, although the school remains open.

“NSW Health has confirmed there is no need for the school to take further action as this person has not had any close contact with staff or students, and was not involved with any school activities,” the spokesperson said.

Bondi Beach Public School, Jesmond Public School and Shortland Public School reopened on Wednesday after cases were recorded in students and other members of the community.

Premier Daniel Andrews says he expects the sheriff to pursue all the fines issued against Victorians over COVID-19 restriction breaches over the past 18 months.

“The sheriff will chase down all of those fines,” he said.

“Police already exercise significant discretion in the issuance of fines. I make the point, to every Victorian, there are many more warnings that have been issued than fines.

“You need to pay that fine if you don’t want the sheriff knocking on your door.”

Asked about his response to an anti-lockdown protest planned for this afternoon in the CBD, Mr Andrews said that “protests don’t work against this virus”.

“This thing’s changed on us. It’s Delta, it’s not what it was last year, it’s a different thing.

“The only thing that works is following the rules, playing our part, and looking out for each other, and getting tested as soon as we have symptoms.”