Kia ora koutou,

As we continue to deal with rising Omicron cases around the country, I hope you and your whānau are staying as well as possible. We are continuing to do our best to communicate changes in the COVID-19 Protection Framework and the impacts this has for the sport and active recreation sector. 

Please find below the latest updates, including further detail for school sport changes, new facemask requirements and border re-opening details.  

Our website has been updated to reflect these changes. As usual, please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions by emailing covid19reponse@sportnz.org.nz. 

School sport changes
Changes to school sport come into force through the COVID-19 Public Health Response Amendment Order from 11.59pm Saturday 12 March 2022. 

All children and young people, regardless of their vaccination status, can participate in school-organised teams and groups, or as an individual representing the school in a competition or event. This applies whether on or off the school site, and to registered schools only. 

School organised teams, groups and individuals are to be treated as if they are vaccinated and cannot be required to show a My Vaccine Pass. This means the capacity limits for vaccinated students are applied when sport takes place out of school hours, or off school grounds.  

Supporting staff, including coaches, managers, teachers and parent volunteers continue to be required to be vaccinated. This includes student coaches both when they coach teams from their own school, and those from other schools. They will still be required to show a My Vaccine Pass if the external venue or facility requires. 

Sport NZ has updated their School Sport guidance which can be found here.

The Ministry of Education will provide an update through their bulletin and DIA will provide guidance for Local Authorities.  

Other organisations will also need to update their policies and websites as a result of this change. 

Please refer to our FAQs in the first instance or if you have further queries then contact us at Covid covid19response@sportnz.org.nz.


COVID-19 Protection Framework 
From 13 March you will no longer need to wear facemasks at outdoors Gatherings. You still need to wear them at indoors Gatherings (unless you have exclusive use of the defined space and venue) and at Events (both indoors and outdoors) as it is harder to trace who you may have interacted with.  

As previously indicated by the Prime Minister and the Minister for COVID-19 Response all settings within the COVID-19 Protection Framework are under continuous review, including the use of vaccine passes. 

All of our guidance is regularly updated.  Included in the latest version are the new requirements for face coverings. See full guidance here.  


Border re-opening  
All fully vaccinated New Zealander’s are now able to return to New Zealand and do not need to self-isolate or enter MIQ on arrival. Arrivals to New Zealand still need to complete a pre-departure test and provide evidence of a negative result at the airport.  

On arrival in New Zealand, you will be given a welcome pack which includes RAT tests. These need to be taken on day 0/1 and 5/6 of your arrival. Positive RAT test results must be followed up by a PCR test. Find out what you will need to do upon arrival in New Zealand here.  

We understand that the border will gradually be opening to all people and should be fully open from October 2022. Keep up to date with the current border opening time frames here.   


General COVID-19 updates  
From 11.59pm on Friday 11 March people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and household contacts will only need to self-isolate for 7 days.   

Household contacts must test on day 3 and 7 of their isolation or if they develop symptoms. If they return a positive result, then they need to self-isolate for 7 days from the day of receiving the positive result.  

You may also be interested in the following updates:

• Information on how to use a RAT test properly is available here.  
• You are now also able to report both positive and negative test results on My Covid Record, and it is important that when there are multiple people in a household you all report your results.  
• It will also soon be possible to report a RAT result on behalf of someone else (family members and children under 12 years and 3 months). Self-reporting your test results continues to help provide an accurate picture of the pandemic’s progress.  
• RAT tests can be ordered online on Request a COVID-19 testing kit. These can be picked up from a collection site. If you are unwell, self-isolating or a household contact, you can arrange for someone else to pick up your RAT tests.  

Thank you for your continued work in this space to keep sport and recreation happening for all New Zealanders.

Ngā mihi,
Raelene Castle