While self-isolating at her mother's home, Whippy confirms that her youngest daughter Vida, has also tested positive but that her symptoms are also mild and she expects that the rest of the family, which includes husband Tom Holden and older daughter Pearl, "are going to get it."
With the highly contagious nature of Omicron attention then turned to the rest of the cast and crew on Shortland Street and what Whippy's infection might mean for production.
A spokesperson for South Pacific Pictures was quick to reassure fans that filming of Shortland Street would continue as they were "prepared" for this eventuality.
"Like all work places, Shortland Street is not immune to Covid at the moment and we were prepared for the fact that we would end up with cases in the building," confirmed the spokesperson.
"The health and wellbeing of all our cast and crew is our absolute priority," the statement continued.
"We have strict health and safety measures in place and we are adhering to all Screensafe Guidelines and practices.
"We have a thorough Covid testing plan in place which ensures that everyone is tested on a regular basis and the team is well-versed in working under L3 protocols, having operated this way since September of last year.
"The Shortland Street team is working tirelessly to ensure that there are ways to keep filming the show. Viewers can be assured that there are plenty of episodes ready to go and there shouldn't be a situation where we would need to take the show off air."
It is only a matter of time before more local productions are impacted by positive Covid cases. The improved access to rapid tests will hopefully assist cast and crew with managing infection rates moving forward.
