Dear Parents and Whanau
As the latest Ministry Update states, this is a rapidly evolving situation. I am ensuring that all families are up to date with the latest facts by posting all relevant information received from the Ministry of Education on our Covid-19 school website tab. Notification of these postings goes out to all parents at 6pm. Below are the two MOE updates received today.
From the perspective of the teachers and staff of St Joseph’s, it is important that we continue our school days, within the guidelines of the Ministry of Education and Health, in such a way as to provide our students a safe and happy learning environment.
If you have any questions please feel free to email me, principal@sj.school.nz, and I will respond accordingly.
Ka manaakitia koutou e te Atua
Alister Bridgman
Tumuaki
Coronavirus and Travel
Three new cases
Three new confirmed cases were announced this weekend taking the total confirmed cases for New Zealand to eight. We have been advised these cases are not connected with any schools or early learning services and they are doing well and two are self-isolating at home/hotel with one being treated in hospital.
Prime Minister announcement
On 14 March the Prime Minister has announced new and strong protective measures to keep individuals, families and communities safe and healthy. The measures come into effect from 1am Monday 16 March 2020 and are as follows:
• Travel restrictions remain in place for people arriving from or who have been in mainland China and Iran over the prior 14 days (Category 1A)
• In addition, all travellers coming from all parts of the world, except parts of the Pacific, will be required to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival in New Zealand. This also includes Australia and French Polynesia. This self-isolation requirement applies to New Zealand citizens, permanent residents and their families (Category 1B)
• All travellers coming from the following parts of the Pacific will be required to self-isolate if they show symptoms, within 14 days of arrival. This includes all Pacific Islands Forum members (except French Polynesia, category 1b), Associate Member Tokelau, and Observer Wallis and Futuna. (Category 2).
Those in New Zealand thinking about traveling overseas, should avoid all non-essential travel at this time. For anyone who arrived into New Zealand prior to this time they will need to follow the previous restrictions. The self-isolation requirement would therefore only apply to those arriving on Sunday 15 March and earlier, if they had travelled in or transited through China and Iran or had travelled in the Republic of Korea or Italy. This decision has obvious and immediate implications for any overseas trips you have planned for your school and for staff who may have personal travel planned. We are currently updating with urgency our overseas travel advice and information on staffing provisions, and will send it to you this afternoon through Special Bulletin. The new restrictions will be reviewed on Tuesday 31 March and then every 14 days after that date. There are no restrictions on freight and goods, they will continue to come in.
Events, handshakes, hongi and hugging
You will have heard that Government will be providing advice shortly on mass gatherings. We will disseminate that information as soon as we receive it. For those that have large events (eg, more than 500 people attending) coming up in the next week or so the advice from the Prime Minister was to connect with your local DHB. The Prime Minister also advised that we should stop handshakes, hongi and hugging.
Prevention remains a priority
Your students, staff and community still have a very large role in preventing the spread of COVID-19 through: • Awareness – know the symptoms and where to get good information • Vigilance – stay away if you are ill • Good hygiene – hand washing and drying, good cough and sneeze etiquette will prevent spread of a range of ills as we move into cold and flu season With prevention in mind, a key message for all of us is the importance of keeping COVID-19 out of the Pacific Islands. We saw the devastating effects of measles in Samoa and it is vital we do everything we can to stop COVID-19 from reaching their shores. The Ministry of Health website remains the best source of information on COVID-19 for New Zealand and for education-related material go to on our website.
Covid-19 Additional Update 16 March
As noted in this morning’s Bulletin we wanted to provide further guidance to support your response to COVID-19. The situation is rapidly evolving.
The Government announcement in the weekend requires all arrivals from overseas to self-isolate. This will strongly contribute to “smoothing the curve” in regard to the numbers of cases we do get in New Zealand.
It is important to note we continue to have no confirmed cases in schools or early learning services. The policy decisions being made by Government give us time to plan for future scenarios.
You need to understand the health risks to your students and staff to inform your decisions.
The most likely scenario is if a student or staff member is confirmed with COVID-19, The Ministry of Health may require a school to close for a day or two, to undertake tracking and tracing of close contacts. A reminder that a close contact is generally described as someone who was in near proximity (1.5 metres) of a person confirmed with the virus for 15 or more minutes. For those with compromised immunity that is 2 metres.
As you know, we are talking with all schools to work through the supports that may be needed.