Covid 19 coronavirus: infected student in class on Friday, self-isolating primary school student, nearby schools on high alert

Schools in West Auckland today are urging parents to keep their children at home if they have another child attending a Catholic university at the center of the latest Covid outbreak.

St Dominic’s Catholic College in Auckland is closed for the rest of the week after a senior tested positive for the infection. The sick student attended class on Friday before going home early.

At least two neighboring schools, Liston College and Henderson North School, are connected to the latter case.

A young elementary school student now isolates himself.

As health and education officials mobilize to identify close contacts, the Auckland Regional Public Health Service has confirmed that several students from nearby Liston College Catholic school for boys attended classes at St Dominic’s, but considers these students they are just casual contacts.

And a close contact of the infected teenager who attends nearby Henderson North School is self-isolating and has been tested, but remains well, and authorities say it was “highly unlikely” that the girl was contagious the last time she was in the school. school.

According to data from the Ministry of Health, the case is related to the minicumulus of the Evangelical Church Fellowship of Mt Roskill. which currently stands at 37.

Meanwhile, schools that are within a block of each other and that ride buses to the area or share close family connections are telling parents to take a cautious approach to the developing Covid situation.

Waitakere College and Holy Cross Catholic School in Henderson posted a message to parents on their Facebook page last night telling parents that if they had other children at Catholic college they should not attend classes.

“Our school remains open to all students, but we hope that anyone with a sibling at St Dominic’s will stay home and contact us,” the post reads.

Parents were also asked to be overly cautious in an attempt to stay ahead of the virus, keep students feeling unwell at home, and make sure they get tested.

Holy Cross Catholic School principal Janice Borsos made a direct request to parents for children not to attend class if they were in any way connected to the latest outbreak.

“I request that you keep children who have a sibling at home at home. Yes, I am being very cautious, but I am trying to keep all of our children safe.”

The public health service moved to allay the fears, saying that at this stage there was little risk for most schools.

“While there will be great concern among families and staff, there is a low risk for the vast majority of these school communities. At this stage, only people who have Covid-19 symptoms should seek to be tested,” said one spokesman.

The Catholic Girls’ School will be closed the rest of the week for a deep cleaning.

Both the regional health service and the Ministry of Education were working with the university to identify close contacts in the case.

An ARPHS spokesperson said letters were issued Tuesday afternoon to inform staff and families of the situation.

Any close contacts who were identified will soon receive further advice on self-isolation and testing.

A spokesperson said the student last attended school Friday but left early after starting to feel unwell. They praised the girl’s family for doing the right thing by arranging for the student to take the exam over the weekend.

“The entire school community has been asked to remain vigilant for signs of Covid-19 and to call your doctor or Healthline for advice, and get tested, if you feel unwell,” the spokesperson said.

There are now 35 teens who have contracted Covid-19 in the August outbreak in Auckland.

It remains the highest age group for confirmed infections citywide.

Auckland’s August group now stands at 165.

Cluster contact undisclosed

Health Minister Chris Hipkins said today that it was apparent that some close contacts from the church subgroup Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship had not previously disclosed, including a student who recently tested positive.

Hipkins said that in this case it appeared that it was a close contact of the subgroup that had not been previously disclosed.

Authorities were now investigating whether that was on purpose.

“That’s one of the things the investigation is looking at right now and it will include seeing if there was a deliberate decision not to disclose, or if it was just an oversight,” Hipkins said.

He said it has been a challenge working with this subgroup as some members do not understand the seriousness of the situation.

“Certainly there are some within the group who may not accept or have not previously accepted the science involved here.”

They were now being educated on the seriousness of the situation, he said.

“It certainly would seem like they were skeptical at first,” Hipkins said. “I think a lot has been done with them since then.”

– additional RNZ reports