The number of staff and students at Auckland’s Marist College who have tested positive for coronavirus has risen to 11.
Stephen Dallow, Marist Girls College board of trustees chairman, said seven of the cases were teachers, including the school’s principal, Raechelle Taulu, while the other four were students.
“We believe we will have more cases tomorrow and ask our school community to stand together and follow the Ministry of Health instructions to isolate,” Dallow said.
The Mt Albert school has been closed all week after a teacher tested positive for the virus on Sunday.
An earlier letter from the Ministry of Health to parents said it was “likely your child has been near one or more of the cases.”
“While you will be worried about your child, the chances of he or she developing the illness are small.”
Children and young people were very unlikely to catch the virus, it said, and if infected they would probably have only mild illness.
Marist College sent parents a letter Monday to tell them about the latest cases and the fact they were close contacts.
“This means that families need to assume that their daughter has been in contact with a teacher or student that has Covid-19,” it said.
“This does not mean that your daughter will get the virus, yet we have a duty of care to inform you.”
The letter said that the school, “has been planning for this in terms of being prepared for students to work remotely from home.”
“Marist is an amazing community so I know that at the end of the day we will all look out for each other.”
On Tuesday, board member and parent Mihingarangi Forbes said parents were trying to work out the best way to isolate their children while the rest of the family was in lockdown.
She had space for her daughter to have her own room and bathroom but was conscious it would be a lot tougher for some.
“They should be in self-isolation within your house but some families are not going to be able to do this so just do your best,” she said.
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