Coronavirus: Schools should close or bring holidays forward - public health expert

A student at Logan Park High School, in Dunedin, has tested positive for Covid-19. Image / Google

Schools should be shutting their doors now or bringing holidays forward, a public health expert says, as the number of coronavirus cases continue to rise in New Zealand.

Professor Michael Baker, of Otago University's department of public health, said New Zealand's big moves in light of the global situation were all positive, but that schools now needed to be looked at carefully.

"There's an argument for closing them down now and bring forward the holidays."

Baker was speaking to Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking.

Baker said the holidays needed to happen if not next week then the week after and that although there were now hundreds of tests for Covid-19 carried out every day, more still needed to be done.

"We really want to ramp up testing now," he said.

His comments come after the 12th coronavirus case in New Zealand was confirmed yesterday, after a student at Dunedin's Logan Park High School tested positive not long after his father.

His father, in his 40s, had recently arrived back from a trip to Germany before showing symptoms. Now the man, his son and a third family member are in isolation.

As a result, the school is to be closed for at least 48 hours. However, parents of students there have already indicated they would be keeping their children away for longer than that.

Baker praised New Zealand's ongoing efforts to keep the spread of the deadly virus to a minimum.

That includes a ban on all public gatherings of 500 people or more and avoiding public areas such as pubs - and even going "against the grain" by not shaking hands.

"I think New Zealand is really committed to the containment of this virus," he said.

"We've really got to adjust - to our new reality."