Thai students at Kerikeri High cleared of Covid-19 virus

Thai exchange students cleared of coronavirus but heading home tomorrow. Image / Getty

Two Thai exchange students at Kerikeri High School have tested negative for the Covid-19 virus.

The students were in a group of 19 who arrived in the country before self-isolation rules were introduced for people landing in New Zealand.

Kerikeri High School principal Elizabeth Forgie shared the news in an email to parents this morning.

She said all the school's Thai students would return to Thailand tomorrow, and other schools were making the same arrangements for their Thai exchange students.

The school would continue to keep the community informed as the Covid-19 situation unfolded.

On Tuesday this week Forgie informed parents that one of the exchange students was taken to a medical centre after two other students expressed concerns about him coughing and sneezing after PE and a swim.

A doctor examined him and did not believe he had Covid-19 but ran a test as a precaution.

A second student was later also tested as a precaution while all the students stayed at home in isolation.

Cleaners had disinfected areas at the school where the students had been.

The homestay father and international staff had not seen the student display any symptoms.

Northland so far has one confirmed case of Covid-19, a man in his 20s who returned to New Zealand on a flight from Paris via Abu Dhabi and Sydney.

Health authorities say he isolated himself as soon as he became unwell and contacted his GP.

He had not been in any hospitals, accident and medical centres or emergency departments. He is being visited daily by a public health nurse.

The Health Ministry is not saying where in Northland he is based.