Covid 19 coronavirus: Mum 'furious' it took two days for parents to be told of positive school case

Chapel Downs Primary School will remain closed until Monday at the earliest. Photo / Google

An Auckland mother is furious that it took two days for parents to be told that a pupil at their child's school had tested positive for Covid-19.

The girl, aged under 10, is a pupil at Chapel Downs Primary School in Flat Bush.

She attended school on Monday morning for half an hour, before being picked up again at 9am with three children who have been deemed to be close contacts.

Health authorities yesterday confirmed the child was connected to the Botany sub-cluster in Auckland.

The student had been tested for the coronavirus last Sunday and was still sent to school despite waiting on the result. She was not symptomatic while she was at school.

The school was closed on Wednesday to undergo a deep clean and will reopen on Monday at the earliest.

All staff and students have been urged to get tested and not to interact with people outside of their family until they receive a negative result.

Ramona Ah Fook, who has two children at the south Auckland school, told RNZ the pre-school rush often saw children get close to one another.

"When you're walking down inside the school gates, everyone crowds together," she said.

"There is not enough room, so kids are pretty much breathing on each other."

She was furious that parents were only told on Wednesday afternoon that the infectious student had attended school on Monday.

"They have absolutely no right to keep our kids, or to allow our kids, to go to a place where Covid existed for two whole days."

But the Auckland Regional Public Health Service said it was only informed on Wednesday that the child had attended school while awaiting a positive test result.

"Understandably, some parents may be upset that they did not hear until Wednesday, however this information was shared as soon as events were confirmed on Wednesday," it said in a statement.

Chapel Downs principal Vaughan van Rensburg said the school was contacted by public health authorities on Wednesday afternoon.

An ARPHS spokesperson said a very small number of people were close contacts, but no number was given.

They stay in self-isolation for 14 days until the end of Monday September 28. All other students and staff are considered to be casual contacts of the latest case.

On Monday, the Ministry of Health confirmed there was one community case to report - a young girl who was epidemiologically linked to an existing case associated with the Botany sub-cluster.

That sub-cluster, now made up of six people, is genomically linked to the wider Auckland August cluster.

Health officials said that day that the child had been in isolation since August 30; as she was a household contact of an earlier confirmed case.

Meanwhile, security has been bolstered at a Rotorua managed isolation hotel after a man escaped through a fenced area on Wednesday night.

He was missing for half an hour from the Sudima Rotorua hotel, sparking a search by Defence Force staff.

Police were investigating and checking CCTV security footage to establish where the man went during that time.

"However, indications are that he did not move beyond the immediate area," the head of Managed Isolation and Quarantine, Air Commodore Darryn Webb, said yesterday.

The seven new cases of Covid-19 announced yesterday were all identified as having been in managed isolation in Auckland when tested.

The Ministry of Health said that with the exception of one arrival from Uzbekistan all new cases were detected as a result of day 3 testing and were in quarantine.

Four people remain in hospital but no one is in intensive care.

Taking into account yesterday's new cases and nine additional recovered cases, New Zealand's total number of active cases is 77.

Asked about the Covid numbers yesterday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said it showed "we are on track — our plan is working".