Covid 19 coronavirus: Parents' fear over Covid-infected womens' link to school

Parents have been panicking their children could have been exposed to Covid-19 after learning their Auckland primary school was linked to the two women who tested positive for the virus this week.

Sunnyhills School in Pakuranga has confirmed a parent at the school was in contact with a close contact of the women.

But the school is reassuring parents that nobody else needs to be tested, following advice from the Ministry of Health.

The scare comes after two women tested positive for the virus after being released on compassionate grounds from their isolation hotel in Ellerslie.

Those women briefly met up with two friends before travelling to Wellington to visit a grieving parent. One of those friends had then attended Lioness Gym for Women in Highland Park, before finding out her friends had tested positive.

The gym member had a "hands-on" session involving gym owner Felicia Alkin - whose children attend Sunnyhills School.

Alkin had posted to Facebook about her frustration at the sequence of events that led to the potential virus exposure, particularly the bungle that saw the two women allowed out of isolation before being tested.

This morning the gym member's test came back negative, but she was still self-isolating for 14 days as a precaution, Alkin said.

Alkin had said she would also self-isolate with her family for up to 14 days and all would be tested during that time.

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website

Despite the gym's owner being only a third-hand contact of the infected women, some parents at her children's school were fearful that their kids could be exposed to the virus.

One parent who contacted the Herald wrote that she was concerned the Ministry of Health had told Alkin she did not need to be tested or self-isolate.

The parent felt the ministry had not given the Alkins or Sunnyhills School sufficient advice, and was exposing the community to "huge risk".

But the school's acting principal Robyn Steel told parents today in a notice that the gym owner had taken all precautions and gone "over and above" ministry guidelines.

The MoH had told Sunnyhills that it had "no need to communicate" with parents in level 1. "We have chosen to do so to allay any fears," the notice said.

"As the parent concerned has had no close contact with others in the school community (i.e. within 2m for 15 minutes) there is no need for anyone else to be tested."

The usual advice still applied - get tested if you have any symptoms such as a cough, sore throat or runny nose, and stay home if unwell, the notice said.

New Zealand currently has three confirmed cases of Covid-19, following the June 13 arrival of a man from Pakistan.

The man, in his 60s, had immediately gone into managed isolation at the Naumi Hotel, before developing symptoms on June 15 and being moved to quarantine at the Jet Park hotel. His positive test result was confirmed last night.