Waiopehu College in Levin has been linked to a positive case of the Covid-19 variant Omicron by MidCentral Health with more than 100 members of the school now self-isolating.
Principal Mark Robinson said a positive case of Omicron attached to the school community yesterday meant an estimated 100 students had been identified as close contacts under "an abundance of caution". The school has a roll of 635.
Robinson said the school was prepared for the advent of a positive case and had put in practice guidelines set down by the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education.
Those close contacts were now self-isolating for seven days. They would be given a Covid-19 test on day five and in the event of a negative test they could return to school again after eight days.
"We have worked closely with the Ministry [of Education] and the direction and guidance we have received has always been very clear," he said.
"We cannot fault the process. The Ministry has been working closely with schools to make sure they are prepared."
It was the first case in Horowhenua connected to a school. Robinson said the advice he had been given was that it was only a matter of time before there were cases attached to schools in the rohe.
"With cases in Horowhenua continuing to grow it was only a matter of time before we saw cases at a school," he said.
As parents were notified of the situation some were electing to keep students at home despite the fact the school was still open for learning to anyone not identified as a close contact.
"There are more students away today than normally would be," he said.
"There is no judgment and we have moved resources to provide online learning as much as we can."
All visitors to the school were required to scan in, while students themselves had their attendance marked as per standard practice.
Robinson had posted a message on social media shortly after lunch confirming the case.
"We have now completed our contact tracing process for the confirmed case and all close contacts have been contacted and are in isolation at home," it said.
"To our parents and whānau - if you are a close contact you will have received an email from us letting you know. This email also includes what this means for your whānau, and what you need to do next.
"We have also sent an email to all other parents whose children are not considered close contacts, and school is open as usual for you.
"The health and wellbeing of our children, staff and community is our top priority and we will keep you posted on any new developments.
"Thank you for your support as we navigate our way through this together and do let us know if you are a parent or caregiver who has any further questions. You can contact us via messenger or by contacting the office on 06 368 8303."
Waiopehu College principal Mark Robinson.
MidCentral Health announced today the Levin case was one of three new cases within the region, with others in Ōtaki and Palmerston North, bringing the total number of cases in the region to 28.
Five cases have now recovered in the MidCentral region (rohe).
MidCentral said when locations of interest were identified close contacts were identified and contacted, as has happened in the Waiopehu College case.
"If you are connected with Waiopehu College and are not a close contact, please continue to follow guidance around monitoring for symptoms of Covid-19 and getting tested if any arise," the MidCentral daily update said.
"As we move into phase 2 of the Government's response to Omicron, we are expecting to see the increase in case numbers in MidCentral continue to rise significantly. To accommodate this, we are changing the way that we report cases and locations of interest.
"For localities with active cases, we will now report any new cases at 12 noon each day, rather than as they are notified. This will ensure that information is consistent and the cases we share will be current as of 11.30am that day.
"We will continue to update the community if any positive cases of Covid-19 are identified in areas where there are currently no cases i.e Tararua and Manawatū.
"With the increase in cases, we are no longer reporting low-risk or casual contact locations of interest. This is because the advice for these locations is the same as the advice for all of us; monitor for symptoms of Covid-19 and get tested if any arise.
"We will continue to advise of any significant high-risk locations of interest where we need people to self-identify as close contacts. However, in most cases close contacts are easily identified and notified directly.
"The increasing numbers of Covid-19 in our community means that at some point, we will all be impacted by the virus. We appreciate that this is a worrying time, and we will continue to provide as much information as we can to support our community through the Omicron outbreak.
"As a reminder, most close contacts will be notified by contact tracers directly. The national Public Health advice for both casual contacts and the general public is the same; monitor yourself for symptoms and get tested as soon as you start to feel unwell, no matter how mild your symptoms are."
Yesterday, 706 tests were processed across the rohe.
Free Covid-19 tests are available all week from the following locations:
Horowhenua
Horowhenua Events Centre, 33 Victoria St Levin 12pm to 3pm today, and 10am to 3pm tomorrow and Friday (no appointment needed).
Horowhenua Community Practice, 62 Liverpool St, Levin from 8.15am to 5pm (please call 06 368 8065 for an appointment).
Masonic Medical Centre, 685 Queen St East, Levin from 8am to 5pm (please call 06 368 8068 for an appointment).
Queen Street Surgery, 50 Queen St West, Levin from 8am to 5pm (please call 06 368 6186 for an appointment).
Pop-Up Testing Site outside the Te Waiora building, Shannon from 10am to 12.30pm
Ōtaki Medical Centre, 2 Aotaki St, Ōtaki from 8.45am to 5.00pm (please call 06 364 8555 for an appointment).
Palmerston North
Central Testing Site at 575 Main St Palmerston North from 8.30am to 4pm.
For more information about where to get tested, visit HealthPoint https://bit.ly/MDHBTest or call the Covid-19 Healthline on 0800 358 5453.
Boosters are our best protection against Omicron. You can now get your booster dose three months after your second dose if you are over 18.
Walk-in vaccination clinics are available today across the rohe. For a list of all vaccination clinics in MidCentral, please visit https://bit.ly/MidCentralHP
