Covid-19 cases arose from a Wellington school camp last month. Photo / 123rf
Covid-19 cases arose from a Wellington school camp last month. Photo / 123rf
A number of students tested positive for Covid-19 following a school camp in the Wellington Region, the Ministry of Education has confirmed.
Under red health settings education activities outside the classroom can go ahead "with careful planning", but a leading paediatrician says schools should be hitting pause on these activities during the Omicron wave.
Ministry of Education Operations and Intergration leader Sean Teddy said they had been informed of Covid cases arising from a school camp last month.
They would not provide the number of students affected, nor name the school.
"Regional Public Health advised us of a school camp in late February which had a number of people who tested positive for Covid-19," Tedd said.
A Wellington primary had their year 7-8s (60 of them) return from camp with 21 positive cases, sooooooo.... https://t.co/dv3yuE1NTI
— Teacher McTeacherface (@hellomotorbike) March 13, 2022
A Wellington educator posting on social media said he was aware of a school camp where more than a third of the children who attended caught Covid-19.
He said 21 out of the 60 Intermediate-aged school children returned from camp with the virus.
Teddy said each school will have their own plan that best meets the needs of their students, and they had provided advice around school camps in the bulletins.
"Under the current red health settings education outside the classroom (EOTC) activities can go ahead with careful planning and recognising that targeted local lockdowns, while unlikely, may restrict movement across boundaries.
"Any planning must include how to minimise the risk of transmission and manage and support individuals with symptoms of Covid-19 or those confirmed as cases, when away on overnight trips or camps."
Regional Public Health was contacted about Covid cases at a Wellington school camp, and referred questions to the Ministry of Health, which directed questions back to the Ministry of Education.
University of Auckland Community and Developmental paediatrician Dr Jin Russell said she was surprised school camps were taking place at all during the Omicron wave.
She said Covid spread was low in classroom settings that used protective measures such as good ventilation, distancing, hygiene and consistent mask use.
"But when you take children out of the classroom where these protective measures are not in place, then you can create high risk settings and you can see a lot of spread," she said.
"And I think school camps fall into this category.
"School camps where there's going to be poor ventilation, crowded dining halls without windows open, inconsistent mask use, shared rooms, then these are all settings where Covid-19 can spread easily."
University of Auckland Community and Developmental pediatrician Dr Jin Russell. Photo / Supplied
A NCIRS contact tracing report on Delta and Omicron in NSW last year found onward transmission in classrooms to be low, and that school outbreaks were usually linked to extracurricular activities, Russell said.
While it was important in-person schooling remained, Russell said it might not be the best time to push ahead with extracurricular activities like school camps.
"We value in person learning, and enabling children to continue with in person schooling, but it's very sensible at the middle of the Omicron wave that we're experiencing that we hit pause on these extra-curricular activities.
"We all want young people to enjoy themselves, postponing school camps for just a few weeks until Omicron cases have settled down will mean these activities can go ahead more safely."
An open letter from the YMCA urged parents and caregivers to consider the value of school camps for students' development and resilience.
School camps posed different risks to classroom settings. Photo / 123rf
"There is no classroom or online substitute for falling out of a kayak," the letter stated.
It claimed there was no more or less risk of catching Covid at a camp than there was at school, but a camp provided different opportunities for learning and wellbeing.
"We argue that camp is the best possible place for your children to be. It is, quite literally, a 'bubble' in the bush.
"In times of chaos, we should look to experiences that both create a sense of 'business as usual' as well as enhance our young people's inherent individual ability to cope with change and the challenges that the world throws at them."
Forrest Lakes Camps, located in Levin, said they had only had two weeks of school camps in February and had no spread of Covid-19.
They required all adults to be vaccinated, used masks when serving food and in close contact indoors, and had specific areas set up for isolation – although these were not needed in February.
Many schools had cancelled their camps during the Omicron wave. Photo / 123rf
The Herald contacted a number of schools in the Wellington Region, many of which said they had cancelled or postponed their school camps, while some said camps were important for building resilience.
Rāroa Normal Intermediate School principal Stephen Eames said guidelines for education outside the classroom were safe and achievable.
"Right now students need opportunities to build resilience, challenge themselves, stretch their boundaries and conquer fears in safe outdoor environments away from lives which are overshadowed by distractions and disruptions caused by current events.
