Students scrap party, told to lay off booze
Dunedin’s infamous Hyde St party is over before it began and student revellers have been told to tone down their drinking to free up health services.
The ticket-only party attracts several thousands of costumed revellers each year, but coronavirus concerns have forced its cancellation.
Otago University Students’ Association events and venue operations manager Jason Schroeder had been awaiting Ministry of Health direction on mass gatherings.
That came yesterday afternoon, with the maximum limit of 500 people effectively forcing the event to be cancelled.
The Hyde St party is a staple of the student social calendar, attracting thousands of people who celebrate in the street or at various themed flats.
Meanwhile, the University of Otago is dealing with a mumps outbreak in the city, with eight confirmed cases.
‘‘We may yet need to prioritise this more dangerous Covid-19 virus work over this,’’ university health head Margaret Perley said.
‘‘That is the sort of situation we are in with our precious health resources.’’
The university urged students to reconsider plans to congregate in large groups and show social responsibility due to the global Covid-19 pandemic.
The virus is known to affect middleaged to elderly people more than younger people, but that made it ‘‘dangerous’’.
‘‘We don’t want to be in a situation where we take this virus home to parents, grandparents and wha¯ nau, so I’m calling on our Otago student population
Margaret Perley
University of Otago’s head of health
to do the right thing and help us here,’’ Perley said.
She urged students to curtail drinking, particularly during events, such as St Patrick’s Day today, that could overload city health services.
Mumps is an infectious viral illness that can cause fever, soreness, swelling in the face and general malaise. Most people recover after a few weeks, but mumps can have serious complications. The disease can cause inflammation of tissue surrounding the brain (meningitis), inflamed testicles or ovaries, and permanent deafness. It can also lead to infertility.
The primary sign of mumps is swollen salivary glands that cause the cheeks to puff out. Other symptoms include headache, muscle aches and pain while chewing or swallowing.
Two doses of MMR vaccine will protect about 85 per cent of people from mumps. Immunity to mumps can lessen over time.
‘‘We may yet need to prioritise this more dangerous Covid-19 virus work over this [mumps outbreak].’’