"Already last week we had up to 30 per cent of parents who chose to keep their [children] at home, and we appreciate and anticipate that number will increase. "I want to stress ... for parents that are workers and have no option, the school is safe for children to attend schools," Ms Berejiklian said. "No child will be turned away from school." The NSW school term ends on Thursday April 9, the day before Good Friday. Schools will remain open for the rest of the school term unless health advice changes, Ms Berejiklian said. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video The Premier said there will be one single unit of teaching for children at school and at home.

"There won't be a separate class for kids at home, there won't be a separate class for kids at school ... which makes it simple and practical," she said. NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said schools will move to an online learning model. "We’ve been preparing for this since the beginning of the year and we are ready to be able to transition," Ms Mitchell said. "We have a lot of material that is ready to go." Teachers will have virtual staff rooms to share resources and parents will be supported, whether they choose to send their children to school or supervise their learning at home, with access to units of work.

The Premier endorsed the national cabinet's decision to shut down non-essential venues and flagged "additional enforcement measures" from midday on Monday. She said venues such as pubs, clubs, gyms, cinemas, entertainment venues would be shut from midday on Monday. Restaurants and cafes would also be shut but restricted to home delivery and takeaway. “This is getting very serious and our actions have to be proportionate … and I want a no-regrets policy," Ms Berejiklian said. The restrictions were supported by all states and territories following reports over the weekend that too many people were ignoring social distancing advice and continuing to gather in large groups. “Is it a perfect science? No. But we are living in a situation where we have to make decisions quickly in the best interests of our citizens,” Ms Berejiklian said, acknowledging these "uncertain times" were "scary for many people".

Loading The NSW government website nsw.gov.au will have specific details about which venues will no longer be allowed to operate in the normal way from noon on Monday. The website had crashed within minutes of the Premier's announcement. "This will provide certainty to businesses. If your venue, if your industry, if your business is not on that list, you can continue to operate," Ms Berejiklian said. "However, we do recommend, where possible that people work from home to reduce the social interaction to ensure that social distancing is respected and maintained." Ms Berejiklian stressed these actions were adopted on the basis of health advice.

"The health experts advised us to take this position and we have done that swiftly and in the interest of our citizens," she said. NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said NSW now has 669 confirmed cases of COVID-19 – an increase of 136 in the last 24 hours. Among the latest cases is a childcare worker at Vaucluse Cottage Childcare centre. All children and staff who were at the centre on March 16 are considered close contacts and are being contacted by NSW Health and told to self-isolate until midnight on March 30. A resident at Quakers Hill nursing home has also tested positive for the virus. The resident is being treated at Westmead Hospital and health authorities are conducting contact tracing. More cases have been linked to cruise ships that recently docked in Sydney harbour - 27 in NSW passengers and 21 interstate. Five additional cases have been confirmed among passengers who were aboard the Ovation of the Seas.