Covid 19 Omicron: Dannevirke South School students sent home to isolate

A Dannevirke school is being supported by the Ministry of Education after a probable Covid case. Photo / NZME

A number of children from a Dannevirke school are isolating after the school was informed of a "probable" Covid case.

A post on Dannevirke South School's Facebook page said the school had been informed as of lunchtime Wednesday that there was a probable Covid case at the school in the Te Kakano team (rooms 1 to 4).

Those pupils were picked up by their families and told to self-isolate.

There were no confirmed cases in the other teams or classes at the school.

Principal Caroline Transom would not say how many children were involved. The school has a roll of about 300 pupils from Years 1 to 8.

Parents were assured that if they wanted to keep their children at home and start at home learning, they could do so.

They were also assured that the school was following all guidelines from the Ministry of Health.

Guidelines from both the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health state that the school must advise them as soon as the school is informed of a probable case.

Transom said the Education Ministry had a single point of contact she had phoned.

"They are amazing. They walk you through, they ask you a whole lot of questions, you have a Zoom meeting with them all and they help make decisions with you about what happens next for your school."

She said a letter template was also sent which dictated what pupils needed to do.

The ministry and other schools in the area had been very supportive.

Transom said 430 schools in the country had been closed or were dealing with the outbreak.

"It's going to hit across New Zealand and it's our turn to do our part."

The school had been "very much prepared" for an outbreak with learning packs set up and ready to go to ensure that children who needed to be at home weren't missing out.

"The ministry has been sending us guidance and so we've been preparing. My teachers and support staff have been absolutely amazing and working to make sure we had things ready to go home that would make sure that the learning at school was continuing at home," Transom said.

MidCentral DHB Covid-19 senior responsible officer, Deborah Davies confirmed the school was being supported by the Ministry of Education to manage a probable case of Covid-19 within the school.

"We only publicise exposure events on the Ministry of Health website if we need people to self-identify as close contacts. In this case, the school has been able to identify and contact all close contacts directly."

There were 78 new cases reported in the MidCentral DHB rohe and a total of 217 active cases.

It was not known how many cases were in the Tararua district.