A staff member at the Hamilton campus of the University of Waikato has tested positive for Covid-19 today, 15 December.
NewsViews was first alerted to this by a worried member of the public whose son is a student at the campus and heard about a case at the campus.
When NewsViews approached the Waikato University, a university spokesperson confirmed that “they were made aware of a staff member that tested positive for Covid-19 earlier today.”
In a brief statement, the spokesperson says: “The staff member does not teach students and only visited their office floor during the likely infectious period.
We have communicated the details with our staff and asked that all close and casual contacts follow Ministry of Health advice,” the spokesperson said.
NewsViews understands that the staff member is located in B Block, 3rd floor in the campus, and was tested positive today. However, the staff member was last on campus on Monday 13 December.
Neil Quigley, Vice-Chancellor, has emailed all the staff members this afternoon conveying this development and confirmed that the affected “person only visited the 3rd floor of B block in the likely infectious period, and no other locations around the campus.”
He also conveyed in his message that all members of the staff on the 3rd floor of Block were asked to leave campus early today, and those who have scanned into B Block recently may receive a notification via the Covid Tracer app.
Those who have been on the affected floor have been advised by the university to self-monitor for 10 days.
Interestingly, until time of publication the Hamilton campus does not figure as a location of interest.
Ministry of Health has been approached for comment and more info.
Update( 16 Dec): A Waikato DHB spokesperson has today (16 December) confirmed to NewsViews that the affected person is “not in a student facing role and contacts have been notified directly and are isolating. Public Health are continuing to investigate. At this time there are no locations of interest identified for the university.”
Also read: ww.newsviews.co.nz/vaccination-must-for-waikato-univ-campus-staff-students-from-14-feb/
