Coronavirus: No Logan Park High School close contacts test positive for Covid-19

The Ministry of Health has now confirmed that none of the almost 150 close contacts of a Logan Park High School pupil have tested positive for Covid-19.

The announcement all pupils tested negative and the school will reopen on Tuesday comes as Ministry of Health's Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield today confirmed there are eight new cases, including two in Southland, meaning there have been three positive cases in the province and six cases across the South.

One of the two Southland cases who tested positive was at Dunedin Hospital.

Dr Bloomfield said the results indicated the Dunedin cases were linked to overseas travel, rather than a possible community link.

"This is reassuring for the local community and for our broader public health response."

Secretary of Education Iona Holsted has acknowledged the support that the school and school community have shown each other over the past couple of days while waiting for the test results.

VirusFacts2

"We are pleased the school is reopening on Tuesday after the Otago anniversary holiday."

The school will be carefully cleaned before reopening.

"All 150 close contacts will remain in self-isolation for a period of 14 days.

"Over that time, as a further precaution they will be watched carefully for symptoms in case they develop," Dr Bloomfield said.

Dr Bloomfield earlier this afternoon commented on the situation with Logan Park High School pupils, saying: "So far most of the tests have come back for the high school students and they are all negative."

"We are just waiting for the last batch to go through. We will have those soon and we will update as soon as we have got those."

Dr Bloomfield said all the cases in New Zealand remained linked to overseas travel, bringing the total number of cases to 28.

There is still no evidence of community transmission in NZ, Bloomfield says.

Two of the cases announced today are in Southland, two in Taranaki, one in Rotorua, one in Northland and two in Auckland.

One of the new cases was in Dunedin Hospital, while the others were in self-isolation.