A "significant cluster" of Covid-19 cases has broken out at the Gloriavale Christian community.
It's understood that members are now self-isolating inside the closed religious community, which has about 600 members on sprawling land at Haupiri, 60km inland from Greymouth on the South Island's West Coast.
West Coast District Health incident controller Philip Wheble confirmed they were aware of "a significant cluster of cases of Covid-19 in the Gloriavale community and we continue to work with the community to manage it".
In a response to Herald inquiries about the Gloriavale outbreak, a Ministry of Health spokesman said: "We are aware of many exposure events related to faith-based gatherings but do not comment on individual ones due to privacy, unless there is significant and widespread risk to community public health."
A nearby resident told the local Greymouth Star newspaper they had been informed.
"They're just good neighbours, they let us know they had Covid, that they were isolating, and asked us to keep our distance," they told the Greymouth Star.
"They said if they kept driving and did not stop to chat, that was why."
When approached by the Herald for comment today, Gloriavale remained tight-lipped.
"We're not interested in speaking with the press," a member said.
Health officials were giving infection prevention and control advice and resources, as well as clinical support.
"It is important to remember that there is a national outbreak of Covid-19 and increasing case numbers throughout the West Coast, so everyone should be taking steps to protect themselves, including being vaccinated, masking, and getting a test if they become symptomatic," Wheble said.
"In that context, the DHB advises that there is no additional risk to the general public from this cluster of cases."
Gloriavale had been slow to get the Covid-19 jab, with vaccinations historically not being part of their belief system.
But when the Government introduced vaccine mandates for the education and health sectors late last year, threatening to close Gloriavale's on-site schools, which would also have cost them funding, it appears senior leadership had a change of heart. Gloriavale's teachers and midwives later accepted their Covid vaccinations.
Ministry of Health data for the Lake Brunner area, which encompassed Gloriavale, showed that 88.9 per cent of the eligible population had received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. Of those, 83.5 per cent have had their second dose, with the national average being a 95 per cent uptake.
Covid-19 has hit the Gloriavale Christian Community at Haupiri on the West Coast of the South Island in New Zealand. Photo / NZME
Greymouth locals said members of Gloriavale have since been seen wearing masks in the town.
During the first nationwide level 4 lockdown, in March 2020, the Gloriavale Leavers' Support Trust alleged that the community was ignoring the rules and operating as normal.
Trust general manager Liz Gregory said daycare centres and schools were full of children and large meetings were still being held.
