22 Mar 2020

Auckland school closing after staff member tests positive for Covid-19

10:19 pm on 22 March 2020

An Auckland secondary school is to close for three days because a staff member has tested positive for Covid-19.

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Photo: Marist College

And the primary school next door, Marist Primary School, is closing as a precaution.

Marist College in Mt Albert has been contacting parents this evening to let them know the school will be closed for a deep clean for the next three days.

The school website says it has 800 students. It is a Catholic school for girls.

Contacts of the staff member were being followed up by the Auckland Regional Public Health service and asked to self isolate, an email from the college said.

Contacts of contacts would not need to self isolate so would be able to return to school after it had reopened, it said.

The staff member was in self isolation within their household.

In a letter to parents, Marist Primary School says it's board made the decision to close because of family links between the two schools and interactions between staff and students.

A skeleton staff would be on board at the primary school for parents who could not make arrangements straight away or for the children of those who were essential workers such as health workers, emergency workers or supermarket and delivery staff, it said.

The school educates 300 children from school entry to year 6, its website says.

Mt Roskill Grammar, Glendow College affected

Meanwhile, a parent of a student from Auckland's Mt Roskill Grammar has tested positive for Covid-19, as nearby Marist College closes for three days.

In a letter to parents today, Mt Roskill Grammar principal Greg Watson said the man who tested positive arrived in Auckland from Europe on 12 March, and attended a cultural event at the school for about an hour that evening.

His child went to school until Thursday but doesn't have symptoms of the virus.

Watson said initial advice from health authorities is that the wider school community isn't at risk.

The school is seeking further advice from the government as it considers what action to take.

Auckland's Glendowie College is the latest school to announce it's closing for three days after one of its students tested positive for coronavirus.

A statement on the Glendowie College website says it's been contacted by the Auckland Regional Public Health Service, which will work with the school tomorrow to identify students who've been in close contact with the student and need to self-isolate.

Late tonight Randwick Park School in South Auckland joined a growing list of schools to close due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Parents received a letter today stating that a student from the primary school is "highly likely" to be infected with the virus.

The Auckland Regional Public Health Service has recommended that the school be closed until test results come back, and if confirmed, it will remain closed for 72 hours.

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