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Focus Live: Coronavirus - health professionals and elderly first in queue for flu vaccine this year
As authorities work to track down the close contacts of a Dunedin father and school pupil who have Covid-19, the results for a third suspected case are set to be released this afternoon.
This comes after Logan Park High School is shut today after a pupil became New Zealand's 12th and Dunedin's second confirmed case of Covid-19.
The city's first case, the pupil's father, was diagnosed with the disease earlier yesterday, and tests on his son proved positive later in the day.
The Ministry of Health said an update on test results, including the result of a third suspected case in Dunedin, would be provided at a 1pm media stand up. Upon confirmation of the pupil's positive test, Logan Park immediately announced it would close for at least 48 hours.
''The school will not open until cleared to do so by health officials,'' Director-general of Health Ashley Bloomfield said.
''These steps will help limit the chances of further cases.''
Close contacts of the student would be traced and put in self-isolation; casual contacts would be given advice about what to do if they became unwell, Dr Bloomfield said.
The school would cleaned before being allowed to reopen. It is understood a lecturer from the University of Otago, with possible links to the Logan Park pupil, had last night been advised to self-isolate. Their lectures would continue remotely.
Concerns were also high in Queenstown, where the region's other case of Covid-19 was confirmed on Friday, with health officials urging anyone who had used shared bathroom facilities at Lakeview Holiday Park to contact them.
News of a possible case at Logan Park sparked an anxious wait for news for parents in the west and north of Dunedin. Logan Park School has more than 550 pupils and a catchment area which encompasses North Dunedin, the central city and West Harbour.
Logan Park also has close links with Dunedin North Intermediate and the University of Otago Language Centre.
Southern District Health Board chief executive Chris Fleming said parents with offspring at other schools should feel confident to send their children to school, as the family concerned were in self-isolation. ''In this instance the child has contracted coronavirus through close contact with a parent.''
Mr Fleming understood contact tracing for the father was well-advanced.
'The boy being in a school, the contacts are quite a lot wider ... there is a very clear protocol regarding close contacts, and all those close contacts will be required to go into self-isolation.''
A message from Logan Park to parents said the school had started tracing close contacts of the pupil, and staff would begin contacting those people tomorrow morning.
''They will be asked to go into self-isolation for 14 days from their last contact with the student ... we will make sure the family is well cared for and supported for the rest of their time in isolation.''
Dr Bloomfield said the man did not begin to show symptoms until five days after he reached Dunedin, so no-one on his flights needed to be traced.
He confirmed four new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand yesterday, the Dunedin cases and two in Wellington, bringing New Zealand's total to 12.
Mr Fleming was confident the SDHB had the capacity to handle an expected rise in the number of Covid-19 tests required in the next few days.
''There are something like 1500 tests available per day across the country and Southern is fortunate enough to have a laboratory which can process results in Southern.''
Dunedin Mayor Aaron Hawkins said news of Covid-19 cases in Dunedin was worrying, but he urged people to stay calm. ''A range of organisations, including the Dunedin City Council, have been preparing for this situation,'' he said.
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''The response to this announcement is being led by health authorities and the DCC will provide any support it can.''
People should continue to follow advice from the Ministry of Health and other relevant agencies, Mr Hawkins said.
University of Otago vice-chancellor Harlene Hayne said she believed the Dunedin case was being handled in a ''textbook manner.''
Logan Park is close to the student quarter and university campus, but the possible Covid-19 case nearby would not interrupt classes, Prof Hayne said.
''OUR university is operating as normal, and I wanted to give you as much reassurance as possible that the university is working hard to keep staff and students safe and healthy while continuing to deliver the best education possible under unprecedented conditions,'' Prof Hayne said.
Meanwhile, a public alert was put out by the SDHB yesterday for people who may have come into contact with the Danish woman who unknowingly travelled to Queenstown last week with Covid-19.
Officials highlighted three locations — two in Christchurch and Queenstown's Lakeview Holiday Park — where they knew the woman would have casual contact with others but whom they were unable to trace.
At the park, people who had used shared bathroom facilities from March 11-14 were warned they might have come into contact with the woman.
SDHB medical officer of health Susan Jack said anyone who had was at low risk of contracting Covid-19.
''The case went to one restaurant in Queenstown,'' Dr Jack said.
''CCTV footage shows that she did not have close contact with any staff or customers; the restaurant has been informed and a deep clean has taken place.''
Yesterday, several aged-care facilities, including some in Otago and Southland, went into lockdown, banning all but essential visitors to try to prevent an outbreak of Covid-19 in an age group known to be highly vulnerable to the disease.
Mr Fleming said the SDHB was taking part in national discussions about how to care for the elderly, but had not issued any directive about access to aged-care facilities.
Reporter Martha and friends are in Minginui introducing us to their favourite four-legged neighbours, wild but friendly horses that have had free reign of the place since 1870.
