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Abigail Dougherty / Stuff
Three other community cases of Covid-19 were announced on Tuesday, linked to Papatoetoe High School in South Auckland.
The latest Covid-19 outbreak shows how “difficult” the virus can be to control in schools, says an epidemiologist.
Three new Covid-19 cases were announced on Tuesday, all linked to Papatoetoe High School in South Auckland. One is a student, while the other two, a teenager and a baby, are his siblings.
All students and school staff were asked to re-test for the virus, though most have already tested negative after a school-wide testing campaign last week.
The Health Ministry said 672 people were tested Tuesday at a pop-up center at the school. Hundreds more are expected to be tested on Wednesday starting at 8 a.m.
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University of Otago professor Michael Baker said the new cases showed how “challenging” it could be to contain the virus in a school setting.
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Professor Michael Baker of the University of Otago.
“This just shows how difficult this outbreak can be to control when you enter a high school,” he said.
“It just shows that high school kids can transmit the virus quite effectively, and it’s quite difficult in a school setting where people may not remember all of their close contacts.”
Papatoetoe High School had reopened on Monday after a closure sparked by news of the first community cases on Valentine’s Day.
Abigail Dougherty / Stuff
Papatoetoe High School students line up outside the gates for their first day back after the Covid-19 community outbreak in Auckland last week.
They were a ninth-year student from Papatoetoe, who went to class without knowing she had the virus, and her parents.
News of the cases plunged Auckland into a 72-hour Level 3 lockdown.
More family-linked community cases were announced last Wednesday through the school. They include another 9-year-old girl, a close contact on the original student’s case, and her brother, who is 12 years old.
All high school students were asked to isolate themselves, take a test, and not return to class until they had a negative result.
The new community cases mean the directive is back in effect, and health authorities said Tuesday that some original test results may have been “first negatives” – results received shortly after infection, when there is not enough virus in the body of a patient to be detected.
The school is also closed for classes until further notice.
Baker said a lot depends on contact tracing efforts over the next few days.
“We really have to know the movement routes of these cases when they are likely to be infectious,” he said.
“This outbreak is still connected, so contact tracing can work very effectively.”
David White stuff.co.nz
Papatoetoe High School in South Auckland closed until further notice after another community case of Covid-19 was diagnosed.
Meanwhile, Auckland University Associate Professor Dr Siouxsie Wiles has called for Auckland to revert to Alert Level 2, which sets limits on the size of pickups, to “stop the super spreaders” while the contact tracing.
Staff and students are eligible for testing in the Papatoetoe High School pop-up window, but family members are asked to go to a community testing center.
The Health Ministry said family members do not need to be tested unless they show symptoms of Covid-19 or are specifically asked.
