As New Zealand enters day five of the new traffic light system there is still plenty of confusion from both businesses and customers about what the rules are.
To add to the confusion the Government went and changed some rules for hospitality on Friday evening, roughly 20 hours after the new system came into play.
In essence the new traffic system is supported by My Vaccine Passes, which are available to the vaccinated, and are sighted or verified by businesses using a free app called NZ Pass Verifier.
Below is some information to help make navigating this new world of vaccine passes and traffic lights a little easier to understand.
First off, detailed official advice on how the system works for specific sectors and settings can be found on the Government websites Business.govt.nz and Covid19.govt.nz.
But here is a run down of some key questions.
Do I need to show My Vaccine Pass when entering a store?
It depends on whether the individual business has determined whether it requires customers to show their vaccine pass.
Businesses that aren’t covered by Government mandates can carry out their own risk assessment by following these steps.
Retail is not required to use vaccine passes, but if a business opts to require these, then only vaccinated customers are allowed in.
It is recommended the business sights or verifies customers’ My Vaccine Passes.
Restrictions for retail businesses are the same if My Vaccine Pass verification is used or not.
Basic needs businesses are not permitted to require vaccine passes from customers, including dairies, supermarkets, pharmacies, and petrol stations.
COVID-19 TRAFFIC LIGHT SYSTEM
RED LIGHT
This applies when hospitalisation rates are likely unsustainable.
- Record keeping and scanning required.
- Face coverings mandatory on flights, transport, retail, public venues and recommended when leaving home.
- Public facilities open with 1m distancing.
- Retail open with capacity limits, 1m distancing.
- Working from home encouraged.
- Schools, ECE open with public health measures.
- Specified outdoor community events allowed with limits
- Regional restrictions might apply.
- Gatherings, weddings, funerals limited to 100 people with 1m distancing.
- Vaccinations required for onsite tertiary education, capacity based on 1m distancing.
- Indoor or outdoor events limited to 100 people with 1m distancing.
- Gyms, hairdressers or close contact businesses, limited to 100 people with 1m distancing.
- Contactless pickup only for hospitality.
- Gatherings, weddings, funerals limited to 25 people.
- Distance learning only for tertiary education.
- No gyms or hairdressers or close contact business.
- No events, indoors or outdoors.
ORANGE LIGHT
This applies when community transmission is putting pressure on the health system.
- Record keeping and scanning required.
- Face coverings mandatory on flights, transport, retail, public venues and encouraged elsewhere.
- Public facilities, retail open with capacity limits, 1m distancing.
- Schools open with public health measures.
- Workplaces open.
- No regional restrictions.
- No limits on gatherings at events, retail, hospitality.
- Contactless pickup only for hospitality.
- Gatherings, weddings, funerals limited to 50 people with 1m distancing.
- No indoor or outdoor events.
- No gyms, hairdressers or close contact businesses.
GREEN LIGHT
This applies when community cases are low and hospitalisations are manageable.
- Record keeping and scanning required.
- Face coverings are mandatory on flights, encouraged indoors.
- Schools, workplaces, retail, public facilities open.
- No regional boundary restrictions.
- No limits on gatherings at events, retail, hospitality.
- Gyms, gatherings, hospitality, events limited to 100 people with 1m distancing.
- Face coverings required for staff of close contact businesses, 1m distancing for customers.
What about places that sell food and drink?
Vaccination for all food and drink service workers is required, unless the business is solely takeaway food and drink, then workers do not need to be vaccinated.
Businesses must display signs in a prominent place near the main entrance of the premises indicating whether customers do or do not require My Vaccine Pass.
If My Vaccine Pass verification is used, businesses must sight all customers’ My Vaccine Passes, and it is strongly recommended they verify.
Restaurant Association chief executive Marisa Bidois said vaccine passes needed to be sighted and a “reasonable number” verified.
“What is reasonable hasn’t been defined yet,” Bidois said.
Until officials defined it, businesses were encouraged to determine what a reasonable number was for them, she said.
“Technically they need to be sighted, you don’t have to verify every single one but you need to verify a reasonable number.”
If My Vaccine Pass verification is not used food and drink businesses can only operate as a takeaway service in red and orange settings.
Businesses and services must display NZ Covid tracer app QR codes, and are required to ensure that, as much as possible, record keeping is undertaken.
How will food courts in malls work?
Government guidance says shopping centres with food and beverage services, such as food courts and kiosks, will need to assess the different components of their services.
Bidois said it was still waiting on clear guidance from the Government, but its understanding at this stage was that My Vaccine Passes would be required to eat food at a food court.
”We’re still seeking some clarity around it.”
The Restaurant Association guidance says under the red setting food court operations can operate.
Each store within a food court will need to have its own allocated table and seating area, it says.
Consideration must be made whether the overall responsibility sits with the food court operator, or, the individual eateries, it says.
Common seating areas within food courts must be managed to allow for physical distancing if responsibility sits with individual operators, it says.
If responsibility sits with the food court operator, different limits may apply, it says.
Who’s allowed to get a haircut or massage?
All close contact workers must be vaccinated.
Customers can visit a close-proximity business at red and orange only if they have a My Vaccine Pass.
Close-proximity businesses cannot open if they choose not to follow My Vaccine Pass requirements.
How about an event or concert?
Vaccination for all workers is required. Workers include staff, volunteers, contractors, professional and semi-professional performers.
If My Vaccine Pass verification is used, businesses must sight all customers’ My Vaccine Passes, and verify a reasonable number.
At red, events may occur with up to 100 attendees if My Vaccine Pass verification is used. At orange there is no limit.
If My Vaccine Pass is not used then events can’t be held at red or orange.
Does My Vaccine Pass work in conjunction with the NZ Covid Tracer app?
No, it doesn’t. You will still need to continue scanning in with the NZ Covid Tracer app.
The tracer app uses the Apple and Google Exposure Notification Framework, which stops the Ministry of Health from merging users’ contact tracing records and vaccine passes.
There is, however, a link to the My Covid Record website from the NZ Covid Tracer app.
How will the NZ Covid Tracer app let me know if I’ve been potentially exposed to a positive case?
There are two types of alert that you might get in NZ Covid Tracer if you have been exposed to Covid-19 – a location alert and a bluetooth alert.
If you have scanned in somewhere that someone with Covid-19 has been at the same time, you will see a yellow alert on the app dashboard.
Follow the advice in this alert. If it includes a button saying “send your details”, fill out the form with your contact details so that you can be followed up by contact tracers.
If bluetooth tracing indicates that you have been close to someone with Covid-19, you will see an orange alert on the dashboard.
A bluetooth alert is a way of making you aware that you’ve been nearby a person who has since been found to have Covid-19.
If you receive a bluetooth alert, it’s important that you follow the advice within the alert.
How are bluetooth alerts generated?
When an app user tests positive for Covid-19, the contact tracing team will ask them if they want to send a bluetooth alert to any other app users who have been near them over the past 14 days.
If the app user agrees, the contact tracer will provide them with a verification code that will allow them to upload their bluetooth tracing keys.
If you have bluetooth tracing turned on, your phone will check every few hours to see if there have been any uploads containing the keys that your phone has encountered.
If your phone sees one of these keys, and the phone that had been broadcasting the key was close enough for long enough to present a risk of exposure, you’ll receive a bluetooth alert.
The entire process is anonymous.
Any app users who receive the bluetooth alert won’t know who sent the alert or where they were when they came into close contact.
No data is shared with Apple, Google, the Ministry of Health or the Government.
