Covid-19 may have been in Tauranga since Tuesday last week, as locations of interest spanning 10 days are released.
As of 6pm yesterday, the locations included a supermarket, two pharmacies, two fuel stations and a medical centre, and were spread from Te Puna to Mount Maunganui.
The potential exposure windows began on November 9 and the most recent was from Thursday. The first recent positive wastewater sample was from November 10, with the first positive case announced on Thursday.
The locations were released amid a day of Delta disruptions in Tauranga, including a closed school, another on notice of a possible case link, and "massive" queues for Covid tests that caused traffic jams in surrounding streets.
Tauranga now has seven confirmed cases, all of which are self-isolating at home. There are two in Tauranga and five in Mount Maunganui, with all bar one a household contact of known cases. The remaining case was being investigated.
A pop-up testing site was set up at Tahatai Coast School, which closed yesterday due to a suspected Covid case in the school community.
Queues of up to three hours were reported.
Tahatai Coast School principal Matt Skilton confirmed there was a positive case.
Skilton said he was "so proud" of the community turning out to get tested, saying it was "extremely important" now the case had been confirmed.
"It is great to see the Tahatai community work so well together. This is exactly what is needed to support our tamariki."
School board chairman Tim Acker said he was not able to discuss how this case was linked to the school.
The decision to close the school was made on Monday after advice from the Ministry of Health.
He said lines at the testing station had been "pretty constant and massive" since it was set up on Friday morning.
"It is really good the community has got in behind it, which is ultimately what we are all here for, to try to protect our tamariki and make sure they are all safe."
He said the school was working with the Ministry of Health and Education to figure out the next steps.
Te Puna School sent communications to parents on Thursday saying a parent had potentially tested positive for Covid, the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend understands.
Western Bay of Plenty Principals Association president Suzanne Billington spoke with Te Puna principal Neil Towersey who said the school had been contacted by the Ministry of Health.
The community was notified of the potential case so they could make a decision about if they felt comfortable sending their child to school, she said.
Billington said both Towersey and Skilton had shown "great leadership" and the Ministry of Education was "working really hard" with affected schools across the region.
Towersey declined to comment.
Arataki School principal Shelley Blakey said the "unsettling and worrying" news of a case linked to nearby Tahatai was a "stark reminder" of the school's responsibility to protect those who could not get vaccinated.
It would be business as usual on Monday but Blakey said they would be "tightening up" on procedures - such as scanning in and mask-wearing - for parents entering school grounds.
"We have been really strict the whole way through, so it is just reminding people to keep it up."
They would also be hypervigilant of Covid-19 symptoms among students and staff.
"My heart absolutely goes out to Matt and his staff."
Tahatai Coast School teacher Mike Standing got tested with his family at the school's pop-up testing station. His son is also a pupil at the school.
"We thought we better come down and just get tested just to hopefully put us in the clear."
He said he was "pretty shocked" to hear of positive cases in Tauranga.
"[Finding] out there's someone connected to the school with it made it a bit more real."
"Now we've just got to do what we have to do I suppose - do the right thing."
Haemish Beard waited three hours in line for his test at the pop-up station.
Beard had worked at the school hall two days ago and thought it would be "better to be safe than sorry" and get tested.
He was also shocked there was Covid in the community but said it was good to have the tracer app to know he had been in the area.
Karina Newnes arrived at 9.20am and was nearing the front of the queue about midday.
Newnes had a Tahatai Coast School teacher in her "bubble" and she worked with the elderly.
"So I got told to stand down and get a test."
Pāpāmoa Residents and Ratepayers Association chairman Philip Brown said he thought more people were wearing masks in Pāpāmoa than normal.
"My message is to treat it as serious - treat it as the real thing until proven otherwise and wear masks where applicable and take all necessary precautions."
Bay of Plenty District Health Board Covid programme operations manager Brent Gilbert de Rios said there had been an increase in people getting vaccinated in the Bay of Plenty DHB region in the last few days, particularly those getting their first dose.
The average number of daily doses was 350 last week, and was now about 500, he said.
There had also been a rise in Māori getting their first dose, increasing from about 140 per day to more than 200 per day in the last few days.
"We're pleased our community are protecting themselves and each other against Covid-19 by getting vaccinated."
The Doctors Bayfair was among the first locations of interest released, with two potential exposure days.
The Doctors Bay of Plenty regional clinical and business manager Wendy Dillon said the practice has received a deep clean and was closed on Friday as a precaution.
All staff were urgently swabbed as close contacts and had since returned negative results, she said.
Bethlehem Countdown was also named. A Countdown spokeswoman said the staff and customers at the story during times of interest were considered casual contacts due to health and safety measures taken in-store.
People that visited these locations during the below times are asked to self-monitor for Covid-19 symptoms after 10 days of visiting. If symptoms develop, they are advised to get a test and stay at home until returning a test and 24 hours after symptoms resolve.
• Countdown Bethlehem, Tuesday November 9 3.05pm-4.50pm
• The Doctors Bayfair, Wednesday November 10 9.15am-6pm
• The Doctors Bayfair, Thursday November 11 9.15am-3pm
• BP Connect Te Puna, Friday November 12 8.15am-9.30am
• Bethlehem Pharmacy, Tuesday, November 9, 3.30pm-5.15pm
• Caltex Welcome Bay, Thursday November 18, 4pm-5.30pm
• Your Pharmacy, Thursday November 11, 12.30 pm-2pm
Source: Ministry of Health
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