A potential class against one of the county’s wealthiest schools is ramping up, with more than 60 former Dilworth students joining the legal proceedings.Papers were filed to the Human Rights Commission last month by two former students…

More than 6ha at Auckland Racing Club’s Ellerslie venue will be sold off for residential development.The land alone is estimated to be worth $80-$100 million.Herald racing editor Michael Guerin can today reveal more details about…

At least 27 people were recorded as having suffered harm in the first two months of this year while lingering on the Southern District Health Board’s cancer treatment waiting list.Three became so sick they became unfit for treatment…

About 15 per cent of pregnant women in New Zealand have been diagnosed with or experience symptoms of depression but almost 12 per cent suffer through without any medication, a new study has found.The data is part of the Growing…

The Ministry for Primary Industries is being called out for having a warped sense of priority after it spent close to $1 million on a recent internal rebrand.Critics say it should be spending more money on helping Covid-hit fruit…

The Government is getting in the way of councils delivering for their communities, according to a survey 61 mayors and council chairs – but it could help out by picking up Act and National’s idea of sharing GST revenue with local…

A rally for transgender rights will go ahead outside the Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington tonight while controversial group Speak Up For Women holds an event there.It follows Lower Hutt’s mayor apologising after saying the group…

Test your brains with the Herald’s morning quiz. Be sure to check back on nzherald.co.nz at 3pm for the afternoon quiz. To challenge yourself with more quizzes, CLICK HERE.

NSW Health has allowed the affluent Scots College to bus students from the Greater Sydney lockdown out to regional NSW for an annual six-month stay at an outdoor education campus.

The department on Wednesday confirmed the roughly two-hour journey from one of the school's Sydney campuses to the Glengarry campus west of Kangaroo Valley was allowed under current public health orders.

"This is not an excursion or a school trip. The students will be based at the campus in Kangaroo Valley for a period of about six months," NSW Health said, in a statement.

READ MORE: Twelve-day window at two venues on Sydney's COVID-19 exposure sites list

"Staff and students relocating from the campus in Greater Sydney are subject to the stay-at-home order when they relocate. NSW Health has provided advice in relation to COVID safety measures."

Greater Sydney's lockdown confines hundreds of thousands of school children to home learning and prevents people leaving the region for any but a few limited exceptions.

On Wednesday, the lockdown was extended for at least two more weeks.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she needed to get the number of COVID-19 patients who were infectious in the community "as close to zero as possible" before there was any hope of ending the lockdown.

Scots College principal Ian Lambert said the college sought guidance and received approval from NSW Health for them to make the journey to what the school's website describes as a "unique outdoor education, six-month residential experience for all Year 9 students".

The priority of the school, which also advised police and the local council, was to "meet and exceed the requirements" of public health orders.

READ MORE: Inside Sydney's COVID-19 intensive care unit

https://www.instagram.com/p/CI2Q7mRnFO_/

The principal said the students had been in home isolation for 14 days and tested negative to COVID-19, with anyone showing "the mildest of symptoms" blocked from travelling.

"Following their arrival, students and staff are in a full lockdown for an additional 14 days," Dr Lambert said, adding that any supplies would be dropped at the locked front gate.

"This means there are no visitors, including college employees or contractors in contact with the students.

"All students and staff will be following the NSW Health recommendation that masks be worn indoors whilst at school.

"Staff who live on the campus will run the program. Staff with families living onsite will remain separate from the boys. Staff who have any risk factors have been directed not to be on campus and to work from home."

After 14 days, the boys will be tested for COVID-19 again.

The Scots College describes the Glengarry program as "a rite of passage into manhood" and says it is "often recalled by old boys of the college as the highlight of their time at Scots".

It includes a 200km hike — The Long Journey Home — from the campus back to Sydney that involves mountain biking, hiking, canoeing and a ferry ride from Bundeena to Rose Bay.

Victorians must again wear masks any time they're indoors or in crowded outdoor spaces.

Acting Chief Health Officer Clare Looker made the announcement late last night, about 90 minutes before the new rules were due to come into force at midnight.

From today, masks would be "mandatory indoors (not at home) unless an exception applies – this includes all workplaces, and secondary schools," Dr Looker said in a statement.

READ MORE: PM rejects double standard claims after attack on lockdown payments

https://twitter.com/vicgovdh/status/1415287538676158467?s=21

"Masks must also be worn outdoors if you cannot maintain 1.5m distance from people who aren't from your household (such as at an outdoor event)."

The rules only apply to those 12 and over and there are some exceptions, with more detail to be available at the state's dedicated coronavirus website after the new rules come into force.

The Victorian government has ordered two schools to close due to infection fears after the state recorded seven new local COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, prompting Western Australia to slam its border shut.

The number of tier one exposure sites is soaring, with more than a dozen venues and public transport journeys added on Wednesday night alone.

READ MORE: Two schools close in Victoria after people test positive to COVID-19

Victoria's COVID-19 response commander, Jeroen Weimar, said authorities were working around the clock to trace and contain the latest cases.

"The next two days are critical … we are right on the heels of this outbreak," he said, foreshadowing a Wednesday afternoon review of restrictions.

"We will take fast and aggressive action as it is appropriate," he said.

The testing chief said exposure sites were likely to grow as contact tracers tracked the movement of the new cases.