Race for answers
Three new Covid-19 cases: Officials trying to establish whether cluster is still considered contained
Three new community cases of Covid-19 were announced yesterday, all connected to the Valentine’s Day cluster at Papatoetoe High School.
A schoolgirl tested positive yesterday more than a week after being ordered to get a test.
Two household siblings of the schoolgirl — a teenager and an infant — tested positive last night. Kmart Botany, where the teenager worked, was closed for a deep clean and 31 staff considered close contacts were isolating. It is regarded as a ‘location of interest’ and some shoppers are being advised that they are ‘casual plus’ contacts.
The high school is closed and its 1500 students and more than 150 teachers are being asked to get re-tested.
It’s understood officials were last night working to establish whether the cluster was still considered contained.
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins is scheduled to hold a press conference at 1pm.
Epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker says it’s always worrying if there are cases in the community, saying “the next couple of days will be critical in seeing . . . if any of [the contacts] are infected”. Auckland University associate professor Dr Siouxsie Wiles, meanwhile, already believes the city should be moved back to alert level 2.
The Government is being urged to speed up its outbreak response as contact tracers start knocking on doors to find the high school’s remaining seven ‘casual plus’ contacts who are yet to be tested. All of these students are ‘ being followed up’.
Hipkins hopes to avoid a social media witch hunt and is asking for ‘a little bit of kindness’.