High school gastro outbreak interrupts exams
The Manawatu region’s six MPS received woeful ratings from political publication Trans Tasman, with only Nathan Guy scoring more than 4 out of 10 in the annual performance appraisal.
Palmerston-north MP Iain Leesgalloway scored a 3, down from a 5 last year.
The Labour MP said he found the ratings ‘‘hilarious’’.
‘‘This is Trans Tasman’s one time of year where people pay attention to it.
‘‘[The ratings are] seen as a bit of a joke around Parliament.’’
He was described as ‘‘one of the boys who makes the noise’’ and a ‘‘strong debater although he A gastro outbreak that has hit up to 50 staff and pupils at Palmerston North Boys’ High School has caused some pupils to miss exams.
The outbreak began on Thursday and so far seems to have not spread to the wider community, Midcentral DHB health protection officer Reynold Ball said.
‘‘It is a very horrible and severe thing, but quick and limited.’’
On the first night, one pupil was taken to hospital after passing out, descends into diatribes’’.
Lees-galloway said he made noise when he saw things that were unfair.
He felt he had done well with his work on zero-hour contracts and injecting Labour into the immigration debate.
‘‘It is hard to assess your own work, but I think this has been one of my most successful years.’’
Palmerston North-based National list MP Jono Naylor was given a 2, dropping from a 3 last year.
Naylor said it seemed he had been given a low score specifically because he was standing down from national politics.
‘‘To be honest there are very few people I would rate as low as a 2, on both sides.’’
He did not read anything into the Boys’ High rector David Bovey said.
He had recovered and most other pupils and staff who had been sick were back on board on Monday morning.
‘‘It’s vomiting and diarrhoea. We had maybe 20 staff ... and 20 to 30-odd [pupils]. It was a relief it was a 24-hour thing.’’
Most senior pupils were away from classes for exam leave last week and almost all the sick pupils were boarders at College House.
‘‘We have a sick bay at College House and as soon as these boys start showing symptoms we get ratings.
‘‘Clearly these guys have no connection to what goes on in Parliament.
‘‘They don’t sit in on select committees, they’re not in the community. I’m not sure on what basis they score, other than what they see in the media.’’
Otaki MP and Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy improved from a 5 to a 5.5, but it was not going to his head.
‘‘I’m more concerned with what the voters in the Otaki electorate think.’’
Trans Tasman said Guy was ‘‘a lot more self-assured this year and was able to show he knows his stuff’’.
Rangitikei MP Ian Mckelvie rated a 4, up from a 3 last year.
Trans Tasman noted the National them out of circulation as quickly as we can,’’ Bovey said.
‘‘It was all hands on deck there. They had a busy time. They’ve got to make sure that the boys are OK.’’
Messages about thorough hand washing and personal hygiene had been reinforced and a cleaning team had been called into action early in the outbreak.
Seven sick pupils were unable to sit exams on Friday and had been taken to the doctor to get certification to begin the process of applying for derived grades.
Because the outbreak had died MP did a good job on his committee for animal welfare legislation.
However, he was not taking much notice of the scores either.
‘‘With these kinds of ratings, they only see what they see, not much of an MP’S work is what they see.
Mckelvie said he rated himself on his electorate work, not on what happened in Wellington.
Palmerston North based NZ First list MP Darroch Ball managed 2.5, up from 2. He said the rating that mattered was the public’s.
‘‘That will culminate in the election. The public will judge me on how well I’ve done.’’
Trans Tasman said Ball had ‘‘plenty of media statements, but no exposure’’ and was eclipsed by his leader.
Ball said the ratings were down, testing had not been necessary, Ball said.
However, it was believed the illness was caused by a gastroenteritis infection, possibly norovirus or a rotavirus.
‘‘[Outbreaks] are pretty common. It’s nothing that’s caused alarms. It is something that will absolutely squelch you out for a couple of days, but things like salmonella and cryptosporidium and some other things can be worse, where you’re down for weeks,’’ he said.
‘‘We get most [institutional gastro outbreaks] in rest homes, subjective.
‘‘I don’t put much emphasis or any prudence into what these guys have to say.’’
Te Tai Hauauru Labour MP Adrian Rurawhe dropped from a 3.5 toa3.
Trans Tasman described him as a quiet MP who ‘‘must put some fizz into it or he’ll go completely flat’’.
Massey University lecturer and political commentator Grant Duncan said the ratings had a Wellington bias.
‘‘The job of an MP is not just Wellington-focused, [Trans Tasman] have gone to no effort to what these MPS have done in their local electorate.’’
Duncan said the ratings were ‘‘a little bit lazy’’, with a few ‘‘off the cuff’’ remarks. because residents are immunocompromised. The next group is preschools, because you’ve got children getting nappy changes.’’
It was not typical for an outbreak to occur at a high school, he said.
Ball said it was important when a number of people fell sick with similar symptoms at an institution for the DHB to be alerted, as Boys’ High had done.
‘‘That’s a really good thing. Reporting gives us a much greater chance to stop a community outbreak.’’