Education Minister Chris Hipkins is calling on Aucklanders to send their kids to school as thousands stayed away in the wake of the city's lockdown.
School principals say parents are more fearful of Covid-19 following Auckland's second outbreak, and they'd rather not take the risk.
Hipkins told Morning Report the government wouldn't be reopening schools if they weren't safe.
"We wouldn't be asking schools to reopen if we thought that was going to place students at risk," he said.
Hipkins said most of the students who had contracted Covid-19 were found at the start of the outbreak and there's nothing going on the government is concerned about.
