I share extracts from a bulletin I received from the MoE today:

You’ll be aware that this afternoon the Government announced that New Zealand is moving into Phase 3 of our response to Omicron from 11:59pm tonight Thursday 24 February.

In Phase 3, only household contacts of confirmed cases are required to self-isolate. The isolation period will be 10 days. All other contacts of COVID-positive people are not required to isolate, but they will need to monitor for symptoms. Rapid antigen tests will become the primary testing method. 

This is a decision that has been made based on public health advice – the high vaccination rate across the country will do its job in protecting us from transmission during the next surge of cases. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to get your booster.

So your child may come to school provided:

• they are not showing COVID symptoms and
• they are not household contacts and
• they have not tested positive for COVID-19.

While we have a rising number of cases among the student body, they are still relatively low and school is still a safe place for our students provided we all remain vigilant and follow the guidelines we have outlined so often:

• please keep children at home if they are showing symptoms and get them tested ASAP – this was done by the cases reported to us which has helped to slow the spread of the virus;
• keep supplying your child with a mask (and a spare one), this is one of the best ways to keep them safe;
• seriously consider vaccinating your child against the virus if you have not done so.

Once again your patience, support and cooperation is really appreciated.