Only a few days into her role as Papatoetoe High School’s head girl, Rhonda Nguyen is already providing a reassuring voice to her South Auckland community uncertain about Covid-19.
When news broke that a Year 9 student had contracted the virus and had attended the school for a day while potentially infectious, Nguyen told Breakfast she received a barrage of questions.
“I was shocked and I wasn’t sure if it was true either,” Nguyen said when she heard the news.
“I had to make sure I had reliable sources that I could rely on so I could pass the right information onto other people.”
It challenged her to quickly step up into her role, Nguyen said.
That’s petered down now and students are getting back into their routines.
“It’s good to see that people are getting back to online learning,” she said.
“From the very start, teachers always had a plan A, plan B, plan C to make sure if something did happen, we were straight back into learning.”
Papatoetoe High School principal Vaughan Couillault told 1 NEWS it was about keeping everyone safe. (Source: Other)
Nguyen said students, parents and staff were waiting up to six hours in line to get a test at the school yesterday.
They wanted to make sure they “keep everybody else safe as well”, she said.
“That shows how important it is for us and for them.”
She encouraged others to get tested if they are experiencing Covid-19 symptoms.
“I think people over-exaggerate how it actually is … It was over before I knew it.”
The Papatoetoe community has responded to a call to get tested, after a year nine student at the school contracted coronavirus. (Source: Other)
Three of 33 close contacts of the Papatoetoe High School student who attended the school have tested negative for the virus, Director General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield confirmed earlier today.
The results for the remaining 30 tests are expected today.
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