Covid 19 coronavirus: 'Good news' turns bad in an hour at Papatoetoe High School

"Good news" has turned bad within an hour at Papatoetoe High School, where two more students have tested positive with coronavirus.

Principal Vaughan Couillault said just before 11am that all five teachers who were considered "close contacts" of the first student who tested positive last weekend had tested negative, and he had not been told of any more positive cases.

"Officially we all have to wait for Minister Hipkins or Dr Bloomfield but hey, as of the last hour or so, no news is good news."

An hour later he learned that two siblings, one in Year 12 and one in the same class as the original Year 9 student, have tested positive.

Couillault has not yet been told about when the siblings were infectious, so he does not yet know whether they will have a large number of other students who will now be considered close contacts.

But he said both siblings "attended regularly" last week, indicating that they were probably at school until last Friday.

"They were good students."

The school has been closed until at least this Friday. "More information is likely to follow this afternoon," Couillault said.

Meanwhile, queues waiting to be tested for the virus at the school have disappeared, and Couillault was told this morning that more than 1000 staff and students have been tested.

Five teachers and 28 students in the home class of the Year 9 student who tested positive were considered "close contacts".

Health officials have said there are 36 "close contacts" connected with the school, but Couillault said the remaining three, apart from the five teachers and 28 students, must be other members of the community.

"They have other close contacts through other members of the community - people going to a barbecue on a Saturday, I don't know where that has come from."

All five teachers have now tested negative. He has not heard from all the students, but by 11am he had not been informed that any of them had tested positive apart from the original student.

After people queued for more than two hours at times on Monday, he said there was now no queue at all.

"There is no one in the walk-up queue, and if you drive in you are going straight into the test."

A very quiet day for test station. We follow the MoH' s instruction closely, which strongly recommends every student...

Posted by Papatoetoe High School on Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Other testing stations around Auckland are also quiet today.

There was no queue at the Northcote Covid testing station at 11am on Wednesday. Photo / Dean Purcell

Couillault has still not been in touch with the student who caught the virus or her parents, who are all in managed isolation at the Jet Park hotel near Auckland Airport.

"I'm definitely leaving the family for a little bit yet, based on the public health advice, because they are unwell - I don't know how unwell," he said.

"I believe there is plenty of support for this family."

An announcement on whether the country will change alert levels is expected at 4.30pm today.