Eglinton Public School closed to staff and students on Monday, October 25

Five new cases for Bathurst were included in Sunday's figures, bringing the total known active COVID-19 cases in the region to 21.

Eglinton Public School will not be open on Monday to allow time for contact tracing and cleaning after it was confirmed a member of the school community had been found to be COVID-positive.

It is particularly cruel timing for students in Years 2-6 who were looking forward to their first day of face-to-face teaching after more than two months of remote learning.

The temporary closure comes after Assumption School also closed its doors last Friday following confirmation of a COVID-positive case within the school community. It will reopen on Monday.

A letter to parents published on the Eglinton Public School Facebook page on Sunday said staff and students were asked to self-isolate until more information was available.

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"The NSW Department of Education will continue to work closely with NSW Health to ensure the health and safety of all students and staff is maintained," principal Vicki O'Rourke said in the letter.

"The safety and wellbeing of our staff and students is of paramount importance to us at all times. As such we will continue to work closely with NSW Health to ensure that all necessary health advice is adhered to.

"While we recognise this will be disruptive and inconvenient for families, it is important that we follow NSW Health advice and take all necessary precautions to minimise the risk of further transmission to support our community."

Meanwhile, new reporting protocols as a result of easing COVID restrictions mean health authorities will no longer reveal new daily cases were active in the community while infectious with residents instead advised to "continue to act as if active COVID-19 cases may be present in your community by following safety measures and responding to alerts".

Across NSW there were 296 new infections in the 24 hours to 8pm on Saturday and four deaths.

Three Bathurst businesses have been identified as venues of concern in recent days. They are:

Anyone who visited either of those businesses at the nominated times is considered a casual contact.

They should get tested immediately and self-isolate until they get a negative result.

Drive-through COVID testing is available from 8am-4pm each day at the former Clancy Motors site at 252 Howick Street.

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