Preparing for the next Covid wave: What guidance is still in place?

Health experts have warned an uptick in Covid cases could coincide with the usual winter illnesses over the coming months. What should people know when it comes to limiting the spread of the virus?

Hospitals are already heaving with patients and at least one school has had to ask students to stay home after half of its staff came down with Covid this week.

So, with the virus still widely circulating within the community, it’s worth revisiting the existing rules and guidelines for managing Covid’s spread – and how those might change in the coming months.

There are no public health restrictions in place for Covid-19.

The last of these – the mandatory seven-day isolation for those who had the virus and the wearing of face masks in health care facilities – were removed by Chris Hipkins’ government in August last year.

Many of the Covid-related restrictions, including the remaining government vaccine mandates, were dropped in September 2022. Vaccine mandates for workers in education, police and the defence force had already been scrapped in April that year.

Technically, no.

There are no government vaccine mandates left, however, National’s coalition agreement with NZ First has still promised to "end all Covid-19 vaccine mandates still in operation".

Some employers may still require their staff to be vaccinated under health and safety legislation, according to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).

As RNZ reported earlier this week, the Government is still considering how to meet its coalition promise to scrap remaining vaccine mandates.

An updated Covid-19 vaccine — the XBB vaccine — has been available in New Zealand since early March.

The XBB vaccine is currently funded for:

Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora recommends people who are more likely to get very unwell with the virus get a Covid booster.

This includes:

You can get the jab if it’s been at least six months since your last booster or positive Covid test.

Health authorities recommend people isolate for at least five days if they test positive for Covid-19. You don’t need a negative rapid antigen test (RAT) to return to school or work.

They also ask people to officially record their positive test result.

Some people can be infectious for up to 10 days, so mask-wearing is encouraged even after five days of isolation at home, especially if visiting a healthcare facility or aged residential care facility.

Right now? Yes.

After June? That’s not certain.

While free RATs are currently available from certain pharmacies and collection sites, the funding for those has only been guaranteed until June 30.

Health Minister Shane Reti is yet to confirm if free RATs will be available beyond that date.