Covid-19: Life Under Level 2, All You Need To Know

The prime minister announced this afternoon (Monday 11th May) that from Thursday 14th May New Zealand will make a gradual move to level 2.

Below is all you need to know about life under level 2.

Moving to Alert Level 2

The Government has announced New Zealand will move from Alert Level 3 to Alert Level 2 at 11.59pm on Wednesday 13 May. Until then we are still in Alert Level 3.

Temporary limits on gathering numbers will be in place when we first move to Alert Level 2.

Cabinet will review Alert Level 2 restrictions on Monday 25 May.

Play it safe

You will have more freedom of movement at Alert Level 2, but it’s up to each one of us to keep the rest of New Zealand safe.

These are the most important things that you can do:

COVID-19 is still out there. Play it safe.
Keep your distance from other people in public.
If you’re sick, stay home. Don’t go to work or school. Don’t socialise.
If you have symptoms of cold or flu call your doctor or Healthline and get tested.
Wash your hands. Wash your hands. Wash your hands.
Sneeze and cough into your elbow, regularly disinfect surfaces.
If you have been told to self-isolate you must do so immediately.
Keep a track of where you’ve been and who you’ve seen.

Life at Alert Level 2

Life at Alert Level 2 means we can resume many of our everyday activities — but we have to do so safely.

Most businesses can open if they can do it safely. This will help to get people back to work.
We can go in-store at local businesses.
Tertiary education facilities, schools and early learning centres will be open.
We can travel between regions.
Initially gatherings like weddings, funerals, tangihanga, religious ceremonies and social gatherings can have up to 10 people.
We can safely connect and socialise with close friends and family, in groups of 10.
We can visit local cafes and restaurants bars and pubs to have a meal.
We can return to our regular recreation activities, at first keeping to 10 people.

Controls at Alert Level 2

Alert Level 2 is not life as normal, some restrictions and other measures remain in place to reduce the risk of transmission.

We need to maintain physical distancing.
We will keep tight controls in place at our borders.
Our wide-scale testing will continue.
We will find and self-isolate anyone who is unwell and their close contacts.
There will be measures in place to allow some safe travel and socialising.
Only small, controlled gatherings will be permitted.
Early childhood centres, schools and tertiary organisations will see most people returning — with controls in place.
Physical distancing, hygiene standards and contact registers will make businesses safe.

Personal movement

At Alert Level 2, you can leave home to do more things, but you should follow public health measures and consider others around you.

Follow these physical distancing rules:

Keep your distance in public from people you do not know (ideally 2 metres).
1 metre from others in most other environments, unless there are mitigating measures. Examples of times where you should keep 1 metre between groups include cafes, church groups, gatherings, restaurants and retail stores.
Take extra care if you interact with people you don’t know. These situations include playgrounds, parks, shopping malls or walking along the street.

There will be a few times at Alert Level 2 where it won’t be possible to maintain physical distancing, so there will be other measures to manage public health risks. Examples include hairdressing, physiotherapists, home help, and public transport.

Gatherings, events, and public venues

Gathering at your home

You can have friends and family over to your home, but gatherings are limited to up to 10 people, or the people who usually live in your house.

Play it safe — keep surfaces clean, wash your hands, and keep the numbers low so you can practice safe distancing.

Gathering outside your home

You can attend gatherings in controlled settings outside of your home. Gatherings include:

weddings
funerals and tangihanga
family events
religious services
public meetings.

Gatherings must:

have no more than 10 people
not be longer than 2 hours
keep high hygiene standards
record attendees to ensure contact tracing can be conducted if necessary.

You can’t participate in any gatherings if you have COVID-19 symptoms or if you need to be in isolation for any reason.

Public venues

Many public venues will be open again at Alert Level 2. This includes:

museums and libraries
cinemas
markets
restaurants, cafes and bars (only for dining at first).

Sport and recreation facilities are covered in the sport recreation section

Venues must:
keep groups of attendees 1 metre apart
not have groups larger than 10 people
not have more than 100 people — this excludes staff.

Hospitality venues can only serve customers if they are there to dine.

Some venues may stay shut if they can’t open safely.

Exercise, sport and recreation

You can do your usual exercise, sport and recreation activities, provided you can do them safely.

This includes activities that were restricted previously, including:

walking, biking and hunting on public conservation land
swimming at a public swimming pool, but there will be restrictions
going to the gym, but there will be restrictions
boating and motorised watersports
hunting during duck shooting season — start date to be announced.

Government is working with community sports organisations to work through how sport can be restarted safely.

High-level sporting events

NZ Super Rugby and ANZ Premiership Netball professional leagues can go ahead at Alert Level 2 because they take place in controlled workplaces. The details for these events will be developed with Sport New Zealand and WorkSafe. Initially, they will happen without crowds but they can be broadcast.

High Performance Sport New Zealand activities can take place at Alert Level 2 using a controlled workplace approach in consultation with WorkSafe.

Workplaces and businesses

At Alert Level 2 businesses can operate if they’re able to do so safely.

Engaging with customers

At Alert Level 2 businesses can have customers on their premises if they can meet public health requirements. This means businesses should:

have good contact registers, or contact tracing records, in place to record everyone who you interact with on your premises
maintain physical distancing of 1 metre between groups of customers, or 2 metres if not possible to keep contact tracing records
not have groups larger than 10 people
maintain a 2 hour time limit for groups to be on your premises.

Services can also be provided on customers’ premises, for example, cleaning and home help.

Most businesses can open their premises to the public:

cafes, restaurants, and bars for dining
hardware, gardening, and clothing retailers
butchers, bakeries, and fishmongers.

Hospitality businesses should keep groups seated, separated, and use a single server if possible. This means each group has one server, though servers can each serve more than one table.

Work involving close personal contact

For some businesses, close personal contact is required to deliver a service. This includes:

hairdressers
home help providers.

These businesses can operate if they have measures like:

have robust contact registers in place
maintain good hygiene practices
minimise contact to the extent possible.

Specific guidance for key sectors is being developed by Government and will be available soon.

Doing business safely

The key public health requirements stay the same at Alert Level 2. Businesses should maintain hygiene measures, including physical distancing, hand washing and regularly cleaning surfaces.

All businesses are encouraged to use alternative ways of working if possible. This means businesses that don’t normally have customers on their premises could continue to have staff work from home.

If workers are sick with symptoms of COVID-19, they should stay home.

Self-isolation advice if you’re unwell

Golden rules for business at Alert Level 2

Do everything you can to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission at work — we all have a part to play in keeping each other safe.

COVID-19 is still out there. Play it safe.
Most businesses can operate if they can do so safely. Alternative ways of working are still encouraged where possible.
Talk with your workers to identify risks and ways to manage them.
Ask everyone, workers, contractors and customers, with cold or flu-like symptoms to stay away from your premises.
Keep groups of customers at least 1 metre apart.
Keep contact-tracing records of anyone who will have close interaction (workers, contractors or customers).
Reduce the number of shared surfaces, and regularly disinfect them.
Wash your hands. Wash your hands. Wash your hands.

Travel and transport

You can travel, but make sure you do it in a safe way.

COVID-19 is a disease you can spread without knowing you have it. You can travel around the country if you follow good personal health measures. You will need to keep records of what travel services you use and keep track of who you have been in contact with. You should keep your distance from groups of people you don’t know. You should minimise the number of places you stop on the way to your destination.

You must not travel to events which do not meet the requirements for gatherings at Alert Level 2.

Tips for minimising risk while travelling:

Try to limit taking public transport, or use at off-peak times.
Avoid sitting next to someone you don’t know, or standing.
If you’re flying or taking other forms of transport that involve bookings, follow the physical distancing instructions from your transport operators.
You must not travel if you are displaying symptoms of COVID-19, awaiting a test, or if you need to self-isolate.

Education

Early learning services, schools and tertiary education facilities will all open at Alert Level 2.

On the advice of public health officials, any educational facilities connected to a confirmed or probable case of COVID-19 must close on an individual or group basis to allow contact tracing, and then potentially for a further 14 days.

Early learning services and schools

All early learning centres and schools will be physically open including years 11 to 13. Distance learning will be available for those unable to attend school, for example where people are self-isolating.

Early learning services and schools are safe environments for children, young people and staff. Additional public health control measures are in place to prevent the spread of disease and to support contact tracing.

Tertiary education

Tertiary education facilities are open.

Tertiary education is a safe environment for students and staff to return to at Alert level 2. Tertiary education facilities will implement public health requirements and physical distancing as appropriate for the context, and will work closely to ensure a safe environment where students can continue their learning. They will need to maintain distance learning capability to help manage within these constraints, and ensure safety of staff and students at risk of COVID-19.

Workplace-based learning will be conducted within the specific rules applicable to the relevant industry.

At-risk people

There is guidance for people at higher risk of COVID-19. It includes advice under the different Alert Levels, who is at higher risk, and how they can protect themselves.

Self-isolation, quarantine and testing

At Alert Level 2, people who are probable or confirmed cases of COVID-19, or who are a close contact of a case, will have to self-isolate for 14 days, or until cleared by a doctor.

People arriving from overseas will continue to be placed in managed-isolation for 14 days, or quarantine if they are showing symptoms.

Anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 should get tested — contact your doctor or Healthline.

Source: covid19.govt.nz

Related:

https://whatsoninvers.nz/gradual-move-to-level-2-on-thursday-14th-may/