Media release

From: Pasifika Medical Association Group

COVID-19 began to spread through the University of Otago student population in Dunedin in mid February 2022, and reported case numbers rose rapidly between late February and early March. The University, residential colleges, and the Otago University Students’ Association mounted huge operations to provide support (including food and care packages) for hundreds of students self-isolating in colleges and flats. While good mechanisms were established in colleges and other supported accommodation for identifying and reporting COVID-19 cases, anecdotal reports suggested that students living in flats might have been less likely to report positive COVID-19 test results to the University, or to upload their positive rapid antigen test (RAT) results to My Covid Record. We conducted short interviews at 135 randomly selected North Dunedin flats in which at least one resident was a University of Otago student and found that COVID-19 was very common between the start of Flat Orientation Week (14 February) and the end of Semester 1 (week beginning 30 May)—94.1% of households had at least one confirmed COVID-19 case during that period and about three quarters (73.6%) of residents had tested positive. We also found there was considerable under-reporting of cases with just under two-thirds (60.4%) of University of Otago student cases notifying the University that they had COVID-19 and two thirds (66.9%) of all cases with a positive RAT uploading their result to My Covid Record.