Marist College stays closed

An Auckland high school at the centre of one of the country’s largest coronavirus clusters will remain closed this week, as staff and students undergo testing.

Marist College, a Catholic girls’ school in Mt Albert, is the secondlargest significant cluster in the country, with 94 cases to date.

Last week, board of trustees chairman Stephen Dallow told Stuff it was hoped the school could open to students who needed to be there. However, this was now not the case, he confirmed yesterday.

Instead, all students and staff would be given a voucher for Covid-19 testing, regardless of whether they have any symptoms or had been tested before.

Principal Raechelle Taulu said testing was voluntary, ‘‘but we strongly encourage everyone at our school to be tested’’.

In a statement, the school said testing was agreed between the board of trustees, the Ministry of Education, the three Auckland district health boards and the Auckland Regional Public Health Service (ARPHS).

While only half of the 94 cases in the cluster were directly associated with Marist, it was important the wider school community had the chance to be tested, it said.

It comes after a new case was linked to the cluster just last week, the first new case connected to the cluster since April 14.

Earlier, Dallow told Stuff the impact of Covid-19 on the school community had been challenging.

The school had ‘‘rallied together’’ in the wake of all the cases, he said, and he was glad the number of recovered cases was so high.

ARPHS director Dr William Rainger said he believed there was a ‘‘very low likelihood’’ of new cases being detected, ‘‘but it is important that we take every precaution’’.

Taulu said the college had been professionally cleaned and discussions would continue this week to determine a date for reopening.