College has 100 students in isolation
School was ready for positive case and swiftly put official guidelines into action
We have worked closely with the ministry and the direction and guidance we have received has always been very clear. Mark Robinson
Waiopehu College in Levin has been linked to a positive case of the Covid-19 variant Omicron by MidCentral Health with more than 100 members of the school now self-isolating.
Principal Mark Robinson said a positive case of Omicron attached to the school community yesterday meant an estimated 100 students had been identified as close contacts under “an abundance of caution”. The school had a roll of 635. Robinson said the school was prepared for the advent of a positive case and had put in practice guidelines set down by the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education.
Those close contacts were now self-isolating for seven days. They would be given a Covid-19 test on day five and in the event of a negative test they could return to school again after eight days.
“We have worked closely with the Ministry [of Education] and the direction and guidance we have received has always been very clear,” he said.
“We cannot fault the process. The ministry has been working closely with schools to make sure they are prepared.”
It was the first case in Horowhenua connected to a school. Robinson said the advice he had been given was that it was only a matter of time before there were cases attached to schools in the rohe.
“With cases in Horowhenua continuing to grow it was only a matter of time before we saw cases at a school,” he said.
As parents were notified of the situation some elected to keep students at home despite the school remaining open for learning to anyone not identified as a close contact.
“There are more students away today than normally would be,” Robinson said.
“There is no judgment and we have moved resources to provide online learning as much as we can.”
All visitors to the school were required to scan in, while students themselves had their attendance marked as per standard practice.
Robinson had posted a message on social media shortly after lunch confirming the case.
“We have now completed our contact tracing process for the confirmed case and all close contacts have been contacted and are in isolation at home,” it said.
“To our parents and wha¯nau — if you are a close contact you will have received an email from us letting you know. This email also includes what this means for your wha¯nau, and what you need to do next.
“We have also sent an email to all other parents whose children are not considered close contacts, and school is open as usual for you.
“The health and wellbeing of our children, staff and community is our top priority and we will keep you posted on any new developments.
“Thank you for your support as we navigate our way through this together and do let us know if you are a parent or caregiver who has any further questions. You can contact us via Messenger or by contacting the office on 06 368 8303.”
MidCentral Health announced on Wednesday the Levin case was one of three new cases within the region, with others in O¯ taki and Palmerston North, bringing the total number of cases in the region to 28.
Five cases have now recovered in the MidCentral region (rohe).
MidCentral said when locations of
interest were identified close contacts were identified and contacted, as happened in the Waiopehu College case.
“If you are connected with Waiopehu College and are not a close contact, please continue to follow guidance around monitoring for symptoms of Covid-19 and getting tested if any arise,” the MidCentral daily update said.
“As we move into phase 2 of the Government's response to Omicron, we are expecting to see the increase in case numbers in MidCentral continue to rise significantly.
“To accommodate this, we are changing the way that we report cases and locations of interest.
“For localities with active cases, we will now report any new cases at noon each day, rather than as they are notified. This will ensure that information is consistent and the cases we share will be current as of 11.30am that day.
“We will continue to update the community if any positive cases of Covid-19 are identified in areas where there are currently no cases.
“With the increase in cases, we are no longer reporting low-risk or casual contact locations of interest.
“This is because the advice for these locations is the same as the advice for all of us; monitor for symptoms of Covid-19 and get tested if any arise.
“We will continue to advise of any significant high-risk locations of interest where we need people to selfidentify as close contacts. However, in most cases close contacts are easily identified and notified directly.
“The increasing numbers of Covid19 in our community means that at some point, we will all be impacted by the virus.
“We appreciate that this is a worrying time, and we will continue to provide as much information as we
can to support our community through the Omicron outbreak.
“As a reminder, most close contacts will be notified by contact tracers directly.
The national Public Health advice for casual contacts and the general public is the same; monitor yourself for symptoms and get tested as soon as you start to feel unwell, no matter how mild your symptoms are.
On Tuesday, 706 tests were processed across the rohe.