Thai students at Kerikeri High cleared of Covid-19

Two Thai exchange students studying at Kerikeri High School have been cleared of Covid-19. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Two Thai exchange students at Kerikeri High School have tested negative for the Covid-19 virus.

The students were in a group of 19 who arrived in the country before self-isolation rules were introduced for people arriving in New Zealand.

Kerikeri High School principal Elizabeth Forgie shared the news in an email to parents on Friday morning.

She said all the school's Thai students would return to Thailand today, and other schools were making the same arrangements for their Thai exchange students.

The school would continue to keep the community informed as the Covid-19 situation unfolded.

On Tuesday Forgie informed parents that one of the exchange students was taken to a medical centre after two other students expressed concerns about him coughing and sneezing after PE and a swim.

A doctor examined him and did not believe he had Covid-19 but ran a test as a precaution. Cleaners disinfected areas at the school where the student had been.

The student's homestay father and international staff had not seen the student display any symptoms.

A second student was later also tested as a precaution while all the Thai students stayed at home in isolation.

Forgie said the school was continuing to remind students about good hygiene and had sent Covid-19 information to all parents along with guidance on how to talk to their children about the virus.

Before school on Tuesday teachers had a professional development session showing them how to teach online if the government ordered schools to close. More in-depth training would follow.

Jackie Sanders, a Kerikeri High parent, said she had been kept well informed by the school with daily email updates.

She was disappointed, however, with the way some people in the town and on social media had treated the exchange students, and the racist overtones of some of the comments.

''What if that was your child, in a foreign country, being treated like a leper? You'd hope people would show some care and humanity.''

Sanders hoped the exchange students had been sheltered from the response on social media, which she said could bring out the best in people but also the worst.

Asked if she was disappointed by the reaction, Forgie said some people reacted negatively in times of crisis.

''As New Zealanders we need to take a lead in being positive and inclusive,'' she said.

Northland so far has one confirmed case, a man in his 20s who returned to New Zealand on a flight from Paris via Abu Dhabi and Sydney.

Health authorities say he isolated himself as soon as he became unwell and contacted his GP.

He had not been in any hospitals, accident and medical centres or emergency departments. He is being visited daily by a public health nurse.

The Health Ministry is not saying where in Northland he is based.

■ Thailand has so far avoided the worst of the pandemic. As of yesterday it had just over 200 cases of the virus, about the same number as tiny Luxembourg. By contrast China had more than 80,000 cases — most of whom have now recovered — while Italy had 35,700, Iran had 17,400 and Spain 13,700.