All New South Wales public school students returned to the classroom today, bar those enrolled in schools exposed to COVID-19.

NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell told Jim Wilson school closures are inevitable for now, but are concentrated mainly in the Hunter, Mid North Coast and Victorian border regions for now.

“The latest information I got at about lunchtime … we were sitting at about 25 schools that were closed because of a positive case, but I think it’s important to put that in perspective.

“We’ve got over 2,200 public schools in NSW, so it’s about one per cent of schools that are impacted.”

Frustrated parents asking when snap shutdowns will end are asking “the million dollar question”, she said.

“We’ve just got to see what the next few weeks brings.”

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