A STUDENT and staff member at two Bendigo schools have tested positive to COVID-19.
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The Catholic Education Office Sandhurst on Wednesday confirmed a student from Bendigo's Catherine McAuley College and a staff member at St Joseph's Primary School in Quarry Hill tested positive to coronavirus.
The two schools will be closed until Wednesday, August 5 to ensure a deep clean can be undertaken.
Holy Rosary Heathcote will also close as a precautionary measure due to a connection to one of the positive cases.
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The Department of Health and Human Services, the schools, and Catholic Education Office Sandhurst are doing contact tracing to identify staff or students who are required to self-isolate.
"The safety and welfare of the students and staff in our schools is the highest priority," Catholic Education Sandhurt director Paul Desmond said.
"Any students, parents or staff displaying symptoms of coronavirus are encouraged to get tested."
Mr Desmond said one of the cases lived in Greater Bendigo while the other case travelled to their school from outside of Bendigo.
Mr Desmond said both cases had not been at their respective schools this week while they waited for their COVID-19 test results.
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"They followed all of the protocols," he said. "They took the advice to be tested and were home until the results were found."
Mr Desmond said remote learning would be made available for students unable to attend school due to quarantine requirements from Monday, August 3 until the schools were safe to reopen on Wednesday, August 5.
Arrangements for deep cleaning of the school campuses have already started, Mr Desmond said.
"The situation we're living in at the moment is never easy to predict," he said. "The schools have all done their best - whether that's Catholic, government, or independent schools.
"I understand that parents are worried, but we are following the advice from the government and the health professionals."
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