Flu surge hits schools

Locals are feeling the pressure of a significant winter illness surge, with reports of around 25 teachers off sick and hundreds of students away with flu symptoms.

The local impact comes as Health New Zealand reports a significant surge in winter illness across the health system, including community and primary care, Healthline, ambulance services, Emergency Departments and hospitals. Health NZ says the peak is expected to last for several more weeks.

Health NZ Chief Executive Dr Dale Bramley is encouraging people to save Emergency Departments for emergencies, while reminding the public that other healthcare options are available for those who do not require urgent care.

“We are here when people need us and we have also invested in many other ways of supporting people to get the right care they need,” Dr Bramley said. “If you don’t need emergency care, using these other options will help our ED teams around the country to focus on those who need their expert care the most.”

Marlborough Girls College was among the schools affected with high levels of illness impacting both student attendance and staffing. Principal Tumuaki Mary-Jeanne Lynch says the scale of the absences meant the school had to take temporary measures to ensure it could safely continue operating. “The school made the difficult decision to temporarily roster some year groups to learn from home to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of our students and staff who remained onsite.”

The extent of the illness was reflected in the school’s attendance figures, with sickness-related absences among students in Years 9 to 13 ranging between 34 percent and 40 percent across all year levels.

“At the same time, more than a third of our teaching and support staff were absent due to illness, equating to 117 staff sick days over the week. These combined absences created significant operational challenges and raised concerns about our ability to maintain appropriate supervision, teaching programmes and health and safety obligations for those attending school.”

But there are signs the situation is beginning to ease, with attendance improving this week. “We are pleased to report that attendance has improved. Student sickness absence rates have begun to decline and the number of staff away due to illness has also reduced.”

Mary-Jeanne says the school has appreciated the support of its wider community as it worked through the challenging period. “We thanked our students, families and staff for their understanding, flexibility and support as we worked together to prioritise the wellbeing and safety of our school community during this time.”