Victorian kids to learn from home for another week

Victorian kids to learn from home for another week

Victoria’s sixth lockdown will be extended for another week after the state’s health authorities recorded 20 additional cases of the COVID-19 Delta strain in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.

The decision means the state’s students will continue learning from home until 19 August.

The new cases include one student Al-Taqwa, five household contacts linked to that cluster, and five household contacts from a case at Mount Alexander College.

Victorian Health also confirmed that the Maddingley campus of Bacchus Marsh Grammar will be closed today as a result of the emerging risks associated with the growing number of cases in the area.

In a statement to the school community, Bacchus Marsh Grammar principal, Andrew Neal, said the school would revert back to remote learning from tomorrow but added that essential worker student learning would continue on campus "until at least the end of the week."

The state had been due to come out of lockdown tomorrow, but Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said such a move would be unsafe in light of the new cases.

“With more than 100 active cases in our community and more than 12,000 primary close contacts, we cannot afford to open up and let this variant run free – we need to get in front of this, just like we have done before,” Victorian Premier, Daniel Andrews, said.