All advice related to current Alert Level 2 – Reduce

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(All of New Zealand, with extra restrictions in numbers applicable in Auckland)

Important: At Alert Level 2 in Auckland gatherings will continue to be limited to 10 people. Funerals and tangihana will be limited to 50 people, and have to meet other conditions set by the Ministry of Health. Outside Auckland, gatherings such as church services and social events will continue to be limited to 100 people. You shouldn’t participate in any gatherings if you have COVID-19 symptoms or if you need to be in isolation for any reason.

Gathering at your home

You can have guests over to your home, but gatherings are limited. Play it safe — keep surfaces clean, wash your hands and maintain safe physical distancing where possible. If everybody knows one another and a record of who attended can be easily generated after the event if needed, then you do not have to keep a formal record at the time. However, if not everybody knows one another you must keep a record of those attending at the time of the event. This needs to include name, what time they were there and one method of contact — either an active email address or phone number. Social gatherings outside your home You can attend gatherings in controlled settings outside of your home. These include weddings, funerals and tangihanga, family events, religious services, community club activities — except when they occur at the same time and place as services provided under a club licence, community sport, and private functions like a birthday or stag do.

Gatherings at event facilities

Gatherings at event facilities include those at cinemas, stadiums, concert venues, casinos, theatres, and conference facilities.

Public venues

Many public venues will be open again at Alert Level 2. These include museums and libraries, gyms, pools, and community centres. They must also manage their numbers to ensure that every individual or group of people is kept 1 metre apart. You should also consider wearing a face covering, especially if you can’t maintain physical distancing.

Contact tracing

The person responsible must record attendees to ensure contact tracing can happen if necessary. At a social gathering you don’t need to do this if every person at the gathering knows each other. All businesses must display an NZ COVID Tracer QR code for each business location. This came into effect at 11:59am Wednesday 19 August 2020.

Have alternative systems

Businesses must also have a contract tracing system — like a contact tracing register — for customers who do not use the NZ COVID Tracer app.

The Ministry of Health or District Health Boards may contact a business if a person is diagnosed with COVID-19 and the business is a potential contact. They will ask for your register for the time that person visited. Contact tracing information will not be used for any other purpose.

Keep your contact tracing register in a secure place for 2 months. Once all records on a page are 2 months old, they should be destroyed. You should only share your register with the Ministry of Health or District Health Boards.

Your contact tracing register or record-keeping system should collect employees or visitors’ full name, phone number, date of entering the business, and time in and out.

Funerals and tangihanga

Organisers of funerals and tangihanga no longer need to apply to the Ministry of Health to hold one.

Faith-based gatherings and clubs

Faith-based gatherings and clubs are social gatherings and so don’t need to follow the rules for businesses and hospitality.

Physical distancing

You should keep 1 metre physical distance from people you don’t know.

Venue hire

If your gathering is at a venue or in a defined space you have hired exclusively for the gathering, then the rules on gatherings apply. If you are at a business or service you haven’t hired out, for example dinner with friends at a restaurant, then the rules for businesses and hospitality establishments apply.

Hospitality sector

For dine-in customers, restaurants, cafes and bars must have customers seated, keep groups of attendees separated 1 metre apart, have a single server per group, where practical, and keep records of all customers and workers to enable contact tracing. People can order and collect from a counter, except for on-licence and club-licence premises.

Businesses can operate with defined, separated areas. The 100 person (10 for Auckland) maximum applies per area, as long as intermingling in common spaces, like entrances, exits and toilets, can be prevented. This also applies to separate businesses that operate from the same location. Premises that serve alcohol with an on-licence must offer table service only.

Travel

You can travel between regions that are at Alert Level 2, but make sure you do it in a safe way. Guidelines for travelling around the country: Keep records of what travel services you use, keep track of who you have been in contact with, keep your distance from groups of people you don’t know, and follow physical distancing instructions from your transport operators.

Consider wearing a mask when you cannot maintain physical distance from people you don’t know. You must not travel: if you have symptoms of COVID-19, are awaiting a test or if you need to self-isolate, and to events which do not meet the requirements for gatherings at Alert Level 2.

Public transport

Tips for minimising risk on public transport: if you can try to take public transport at off-peak times, avoid sitting or standing next to someone you don’t know, follow the physical distancing instructions from your transport operators, don’t travel if you are displaying symptoms of COVID-19, awaiting a test, or if you need to self-isolate.

You must wear a face covering on public transport.

Mask

You must wear a face covering on public transport and aircraft at Alert Level 2. This includes trains, buses, and ferries. They do not need to be worn: by children under 12, on school buses, on charter or group tours , on interisland ferries, on private scenic flights. These groups are likely to be in each other’s bubbles as part of a registered group or have space to physically distance.

Most people can use non-medical-grade face coverings. These face coverings prevent the wearer from spreading diseases to others and could help protect the wearer from becoming infected. If you do not have a face covering, you don’t need to rush out and buy one. You can use another kind of covering, like a bandana, scarf or t-shirt.

Community sports

Community sports are limited to groups of 10 in a defined space. The 10-person limit includes all players, officials and spectators. A sports field can have multiple defined spaces by keeping: people in groups of up to 10, and groups separate either through consistent 2 metre physical distancing when outdoors or barriers. These groups are prevented from intermingling or sharing common facilities at the same time.

Playgrounds, gyms, pools and public courts will be able to open, subject to meeting the above public health measures.

Contact tracing register for all participants and spectators must be in place and able to be accessed quickly. All facilities and organisations must also display the NZ COVID Tracer QR code at every entry point to allow people to track their own movements.

For elite, professional and semi-professional sport, players are considered employees in a workplace and are not subject to gathering rules, but spectators are considered a gathering and have a 10-person limit per group.

Cleaning and hygiene

Surfaces and equipment should be regularly cleaned and disinfected where practicable. Good personal hygiene practices should continue – wash and dry your hands before and after activities, cough into elbow and don’t touch your face.

Risky activities

Activities should only be completed within your confidence and skill level to continue to reduce the need for emergency services assistance.

– All details are courtesy www.covid19.govt.nz