One word from Gladys suggests lockdown won’t end until October as NSW recorded another 882 new Covid-19 infections and two deaths. Another 882 new cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in NSW and two people have also sadly died as the state leader hinted lockdown may not end for months. The figures came as the NSW Premier outlined a return to school plan for students across the state. Gladys Berejiklian said “if” any area in NSW comes out of lockdown before October 25 then those children will automatically return to school.

But setting the date for late October suggests NSW could be subject to strict stay-at-home measures for weeks past the current end date in late September. “If health (officials) decide any part of NSW is coming out of lockdown before the October 25 date, that will obviously mean that schools can go back to face-to-face learning,” Ms Berejiklian said. Ms Berejiklian said teachers, students and kids will start returning to the classrooms in October. The return will be staggered across year levels, and relies on mandatory vaccinations for school staff.

More than 140,000 people got vaccinated in the last 24 hours, taking the total jabs administered to 6.4 million for NSW. The two deaths included a man in his 60s from the Blue Mountains who died in Nepean Hospital where he caught the disease. A man in his 90s from western Sydney died at Concord Hospital, having acquired his infection at Canterbury Hospital. Both had underlying health conditions. Ms Berejiklian said more than 80 per cent of the cases were in Sydney’s west and southwest but there were some new areas of concern including Camden and Penrith.

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