Two school bus services in the Bay of Plenty have been linked with Covid-19 cases. Photo / George Novak
Positive Covid-19 cases in Bay of Plenty schools have highlighted the risk posed to students travelling on school buses during the Omicron outbreak.
Pongokawa School students had been learning offsite as pupils who used a school bus service were deemed close contacts. More cases among students meant this would continue for the rest of the week.
And neighbouring Te Puke Primary School had alerted the community about a student who tested positive after using the school bus service on Friday.
This comes as the Bay of Plenty District Health Board region hit a new daily record for this wave of the virus, with 33 additional cases of Covid-19 reported yesterday — all in Tauranga or the Western Bay.
Toi Te Ora Public Health medical officer of health Dr Jim Miller said cases had affected settings such as preschools, supported housing, aged care facilities, and hospitality. It was "very likely" case numbers would rise
In a letter to parents on February 15, Te Puke Primary School principal Andrea Dance said she had been informed of a student who had tested positive for Omicron.
The message said she had not yet received any confirmation from the Ministry of Health but was told by a parent.
"The child was in the senior syndicate so I'm asking for you to monitor your child for symptoms and please get them tested if they show any."
Dance told the Bay of Plenty Times school remained open for instruction and she was waiting to receive further Government advice.
She understood the infected pupil last used the school bus service on Friday.
Te Puke High School principal Alan Liddle said the primary school pupil travelled on a combined school bus with students from the secondary school and had since tested positive.
Liddle said students on this bus service were considered casual contacts at this stage and parents and caregivers needed to monitor their children for symptoms.
The school was continuing as usual, he said.
All students aged eight and up must wear a mask on all school transport services at red and orange settings.
A bulletin issued to principals on February 3 by the Ministry of Education said drivers were not required to enforce the wearing of masks but should report non-compliance to the school.
Schools were expected to manage any non-compliance, it said.
Another Ministry bulletin issued on February 15 said there were "many layers" of protection in place on school buses.
This included mandated vaccination for bus drivers, people unwell not travelling, increasing rates of vaccination among youth, mask-wearing and good cough and sneeze etiquette.
Pongokawa School students had been learning offsite for the past week after children who used a school bus service were deemed close contacts.
School principal Craig Haggo said learning from home was continuing for students this week as there was "continuing to be further cases".
Haggo said "a number" of students in and around Te Puke relied on the school bus service and many of these buses contained students from multiple schools.
"It's a unique situation that city schools won't necessarily face in the same way - they'll have their own challenges."
He thought children at city schools would tend to go to school by car, scooters or bikes.
"Whereas in a rural setting, for Pongakawa for instance, I would think 85 per cent of our students come to school by bus so that creates in and of itself challenges that a city school may not face."
Western Bay of Plenty Principals Association president Suzanne Billington said she believed a majority of students across the Western Bay made use of bus services.
Billington, who was also Tauriko School principal, said while all schools were doing the best they could to put systems in place school bus services were not "fail-safe".
"As far as buses are concerned, the kids are all aware of the rules and we hope they follow them.
"We do the best as we can but we can't guarantee that no one is going to catch Covid on the bus."
She was not aware of any instances of non-mask compliance at Tauriko School.
Otūmoetai College principal Russell Gordon said between a quarter and a third of their students caught the bus.
Some students would use the public service while others caught school buses provided by Tauranga Transport Network Group.
There was an "overall" list of those who used public transport, which could be used for contact tracing purposes, he said.
Gordon said there had "thankfully" been no problems surrounding mask non-compliance among students.
"When the mask mandate came in for schools it was a concern for me. How would kids react?
"But on the whole, our kids have been magnificent. They understand this is a pandemic and we are responsible."
He said schools should be "rightfully proud" of how young people had "stood up and been accountable for their actions" during the pandemic.
"I can confidently say our teenagers are all doing they can to support the wellbeing of everyone."
Speaking generally, First Union transport and logistics organiser Graham McKean said on occasion all bus drivers were seeing passengers not wearing masks.
It was important drivers provided a "safe experience" for passengers, but they were not allowed to refuse entry to those without masks, he said.
"It puts them in a position where other passengers become uncomfortable and the drivers themselves can be exposed potentially to Covid as people enter the bus. It puts a lot of stress on the drivers," he said.
He said there was "added complexity" for bus drivers transporting students to and from school.
"You are like the first aider and person to keep all the young ones safe. As you can imagine, that can get quite testing at times, at these all add stress. It all compounds on the driver and then you layer this over with the impending health issues of Omicron."
Bay of Plenty Regional Council transport operations team lead Jen Proctor said the school bus services linked to positive cases were not run by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.
She said they were Ministry of Education services.
However, Baybus was conducting "daily enhanced cleaning" on all high touchpoints in the buses in addition to routine daily cleaning.
Proctor said transport operators were not expected or required to enforce passenger compliance but could provide advice to passengers for travelling safely.
"It is the passenger's responsibility to wear a face covering and we ask them to take that seriously."
She noted some bus drivers and passengers had a valid medical reason for not wearing a face mask and asked the public to respectful of this.
University of Auckland aerosol chemist Dr Joel Rindelaub said anytime you were in an enclosed area with limited airflow there would be an "increased risk" of Covid transmission.
He said like all public transportation, school buses were high-risk environments that needed to be well ventilated.
"If you can open windows that is going to be the best way to get clean airflow into that indoor environment," he said.
"Otherwise, of course making sure students are wearing masks for the duration of their travels will be a measure you can use to try to reduce that risk."
The Ministry of Health and NZ Bus have been approached for comment.
