COVID-19 Update Monday 15 February

Latest COVID-19 update: Important message from Awanuiārangi

Tēnā koutou,

We have been informed that a staff member at our Whakatāne campus has been identified as a close contact of a close contact of one of the positive COVID-19 cases in Auckland.

As soon as the staff member received notification of this, they contacted us and have gone home to isolate till they await their test results.

We have been informed of all the contacts the staff member has had to date on Campus over the relevant time period, and those kaimahi are now working from home until the staff member gets clearance from the Ministry of Health. Note, there have been no tauira on campus during the time period the staff member was on campus.

Our investigations to date indicate that contact with the staff member is isolated to one area of the Whakatāne campus which has now been sectioned off and will undergo a deep clean, out of an abundance of caution. There is no need to panic, but we must continue to take all necessary precautions.

We are advising kaimahi and tauira to please work/study from home/hold classes online, if they feel more comfortable doing so. If kaimahi need to be on campus, please restrict movements to their own office areas. Manuhiri are not allowed on campus during this time.

If you have been to Auckland in the past 10 days, and have COVID-19 or flu-like symptoms, or if you have been identified as a close contact, please contact Healthline or your Doctor. If you are required to be tested, inform your Manager and do not come to work. Your close work contacts will also need to work from home until a negative result is produced, so it is important you let us know who you have been in close contact with at work.

Regardless of the Alert Levels, everyone entering and leaving our campuses needs to follow our check in and check out procedures when on campus. There is a single point of entry on campus (Main Reception) and signing in and out from the Main Reception using the free EVA QR code system, the tablet sign-in (at our Tāmaki Campus) or manually, is compulsory. Please also use the NZ COVID Tracer app for you to record where you’ve been, and who you’ve seen.

If you are feeling anxious, please visit website for more useful links on support available, and do not hesitate to get in touch with us. Email us at ssc@wananga.ac.nz (tauira) or COVID-19@wananga.ac.nz (kaimahi) for any pātai you have.   

Refer to our earlier communications for what the Alert Level changes mean for our three campuses.

Our approach for each Alert Level is also outlined in detail on our FAQ page here, so please check back regularly. Please familiarise yourself with our procedures as we need to be able to activate these quickly at short notice.

Further updates will continue to be communicated as these are available. Continue to check your emails and follow the Awanuiārangi website and Facebook page for all our updates. 

In the meantime, we urge you to not panic, follow the safety measures in place, including all contact tracing, and sign in and sign out procedures. The latter is incredibly important so that we can contact trace quickly and effectively should the need arise.

Thank you for your commitment and continued support whānau.

Professor Wiremu Doherty

Chief Executive Officer