Another guest in isolation said he was not surprised a person escaped Rotorua's Sudima Hotel on Wednesday night. Video / Andrew Warner
Health officials have asked all staff and students at an Auckland primary school to be tested for Covid-19 after an infectious student briefly attended on Monday.
Chapel Downs Primary School was last night closed until next Monday, at the earliest, for a deep clean, after the school was informed ofthe positive case.
Health authorities this morning confirmed that the girl, aged under 10, was connected to the Botany sub-cluster in Auckland. She was not symptomatic while she was at school.
She and three other close contacts were dropped off at the school, on Dawson Rd, for half an hour before being collected again.
The pupil, who had been tested for Covid-19, later received a positive result that same day. She was sent to school despite still waiting on the result.
A pupil from Chapel Downs Primary School in Flat Bush has been linked to the Botany sub-cluster in Auckland. Photo / Google
The Auckland Regional Public Health Service (ARPHS) today asked all staff and students to be tested for Covid-19, but said the vast majority of people there were considered to be casual contacts.
"An ARPHS spokesperson says a very small number of people are close contacts, and will stay in self-isolation for 14 days until the end of Monday 28 September," ARPHS said in a statement.
"However, the vast majority of the school are being asked to stay away from others outside the home until they are tested and receive a negative result.
"The parents and siblings of these school children do not need to stay at home."
While casual contacts were at a very low risk of developing Covid-19, everyone should be tested and keep an eye out for Covid symptoms as a precaution, the statement read.
Mother 'furious' at delay in notification of school Covid case
A mother is frustrated it took two days for parents to find out the student tested positive for coronavirus.
Ramona Ah Fook, a pregnant mother of two children at the school, said that morning period is busy and kids from all classes would be near each other.
"There's one main entrance and another around the back... When you're walking down inside the school gates, everyone crowds together. There is not enough room, so kids are pretty much breathing on each other," Ah Fook said.
Ah Fook was furious it took two days to find out about the positive case.
"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. And now they've decided to close down the school for a thorough clean."
- RNZ
"Understandably, some parents may be upset"
Principal Vaughan van Rensburg this afternoon told parents and caregivers a Covid testing site would be on school ground this Friday and Saturday.
The testing site would be open both days from 9am until 4pm.
Van Rensburg, who yesterday told the Herald he was only made aware of the case at 2pm on Wednesday, once again thanked the school community for their support.
ARPHS said it was only informed on Wednesday that the child had attended school while awaiting a positive test result.
"The child who was briefly at school was not symptomatic, but was waiting for results from a Covid-19 test from 13 September," the statement said.
"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."
Meanwhile seven new cases of Covid-19 were reported today, all in managed isolation.
There were no new community cases reported. Four people are in hospital but no-one in ICU.
The Ministry of Health say with the exception of one arrival from Uzbekistan, all new cases were detected as a result of day 3 testing and are now in quarantine.
