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Ricky Wilson / Stuff
Chapel Downs Primary School in Flat Bush, Auckland, closed for a week after a child with coronavirus was briefly in school on Monday.
Public health officials are now asking everyone associated with an Auckland primary school to get tested after a girl carrying the coronavirus visited the school.
The request came as inconsistencies emerged in the official information provided about the young woman’s new case, the most recent patient known to have contracted Covid-19 in the community.
The Health Ministry initially said the girl had been in isolation since Aug. 30, but regional public health officials later said she had visited Chapel Downs Elementary School Monday morning.
The Auckland Regional Public Health Service is now asking all students and staff associated with the school to get tested.
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It has also emerged that the ministry appears to have learned on Sunday that the girl was a potential case, the day before she was briefly at school.
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The case was announced by the Health Ministry on Monday afternoon as the only new community case that day, part of the botany subgroup genomically linked to the existing Auckland group.
The ministry said the boy had been in isolation since Aug. 30 because he was a family contact for a confirmed case.
But the ARPHS letter said the boy was at school Monday morning.
“The boy and three close contacts were dropped off before school on Monday, September 14 for about 30 minutes until they were picked up around 9:00 am.
“The child tested positive for the virus later that day.”
In addition, details of confirmed cases provided on the Health Ministry website say officials were notified that the girl was a potential case on Sunday, the day before visiting the school and three days before it was reported to the school.
The Auckland Regional Public Health Service (ARPHS) also did not tell parents and caregivers associated with the school that a student with Covid-19 was in school for 30 minutes, shortly before testing positive, until Wednesday afternoon. .
Principal Vaughan van Rensburg said the school was informed of the case around 2 p.m. Wednesday.
ARPHS said in a statement Thursday afternoon, following inquiries from Stuff On the inconsistencies, which public health officials discovered Wednesday morning that the girl was at school on Monday.
The boy had no symptoms but was awaiting the results of a Covid-19 test conducted on Saturday, according to the statement.
“The child left school before the children started classes for the day, further reducing the risk to the school community.”
ARPHS had told the family the importance of self-isolation, according to their statement.
Ricky Wilson / Stuff
The school is closed until Monday after a girl with coronavirus was briefly on its grounds.
“The family has been cooperating with Public Health and the members have been examined and remained in isolation until this event.”
ARPHS is asking all students and staff at Chapel Downs to get tested.
A “very small” number of people were considered close contacts of the girl and will isolate themselves for two weeks until the end of September 28, ARPHS said.
“While casual contacts have a very low risk of developing COVID-19, Public Health has requested that everyone in the school get tested and watch for symptoms.”
The Health Ministry has not responded to a request for comment.
A father, who has two children at the school and asked to remain anonymous, said he was very concerned about the delay.
He said it was “absolutely unacceptable” that the letter and advice for the school came a day after the case was announced.
Some parents she had spoken to called the Covid hotline for advice after the case came up, only to be told by the call center operators that they had not heard of the girl’s visit to school.
However, the father praised van Rensburg and the school’s teachers, particularly what he called their “open and transparent” communication.
“I have never doubted his ability or commitment to the well-being of our children.”
The father said that he and his family would be tested. They would isolate themselves at home until the results came in.
“I am lucky to be able to work from home so that these things do not affect us so much.
“Unfortunately, it is not the same for many of the other families in our community who are frontline and factory workers.”
