Guidelines for Physical Activity

Women playing soccer

As anticipated New Zealand has experienced new cases of Covid-19 in the community. Following Wednesday 12 August the Wellington Region has moved up to Alert Level 2, this is in place until midnight Sunday 6 September. During this time we must remember to follow the essential advice to unite against COVID-19:

Following hygiene practices
Complete contact tracing
Not attend gatherings which would exceed 100 people (including public spaces)
Using facemasks on public transport is mandatory from Monday 31 August for everyone aged 12years and older
Social distancing by 2meters in public and 1meter in working environments

Sport NZ

Sport NZ has made some updates to their Alert Level guidelines along with adding the following key considerations:

Gatherings are defined as contact activities where physical distancing cannot be observed
Operators of contact activities will need to consider modified training and play environments until the gathering restrictions are lifted
Multiple gatherings of 10 can take place in open spaces if groups are kept separate at all times, entering and leaving, and when using facilities such as toilets
Gatherings include players, coaches and officials. Spectators also need to be kept physically distanced if they are being allowed to watch
Any facility or activity that can keep all participants physically distanced at all times can accommodate more than 10 participants, with the number involved then decided by the size of the venue/space
You must have a plan for the safe operation of your business or service that documents how Government restrictions will be adhered to and all public hygiene and contact tracing requirements are met
Note that generally speaking everyone in Auckland is encouraged to wear face coverings in public; you may wish to consider how this is added to your health and safety plan

Ministry of Education

The Ministry of Education has provided further guidance on the Alert Level recommendations in the school environment.

Physical Education New Zealand

Physical Education New Zealand has updated their tools and resources page that contains content shared by PENZ Advisors and Healthy Active Learning Teams.

Play, Active Recreation and Sport at Alert Level 1

Updated Tuesday 9 June

On Monday the Government announced that from 11:59pm Monday 8 June, the country will move to Alert Level 1. Play, active recreation and sport is now able to take place without physical distancing and there are no gathering limits.

We encourage you to maintain good hygiene habits on and off the field to ensure we can continue to play and keep our communities safe. While none of the public health requirements are mandatory – it is important to remain vigilant to minimise the risk of community transmission. Under Alert Level 1 the disease is contained in New Zealand, but COVID-19 remains uncontrolled overseas. The main controls under Alert Level 1 are border restrictions and managed isolation or quarantine for people entering the country.

Sport NZ has produced a new Alert Level 1 table and the following guidance for the physical activity sector:

There are no restrictions on businesses and services (including hospitality), no restrictions on gathering, no requirements for physical distancing, and no requirements to keep records to enable contact tracing. You should still maintain QR codes however where possible, to allow people to log where they have been.
In Alert Level 1 we should be prepared to quickly move into higher alert levels if we need to.
As mass gatherings limits are removed, large events such as sports games or tournaments are able to go ahead. Organisers are encouraged to adopt the COVID Code (details coming soon) and should be aware they may be asked to postpone or cancel gatherings under the circumstance that a significant outbreak has re-occurred, or if case numbers increase.

For any additional questions on Alert Level 2 guidelines please send them to covid19response@sportnz.org.nz.

Ministry of Education Alert Level 1 guidelines

Updated Monday 8 June

The Ministry of Education has produced health and safety guidance to support

Please note - these guidelines have been updated since the start of the week.

View the guidelines

Please note, there are different Ministry of Health Guidelines for Early Childhood Centres (ECC) - view here

Other Resources

Sport NZ

Sport NZ have the following resources available on their website:

You can view more information and resources on the Sport NZ website.

Physical Education New Zealand

The following guidelines, as well as more resources can be found on the Physical Education New Zealand website.

Physical Education Guidelines for Schools for Alert Level 3
Physical Education Guidelines for Schools for Alert Level 2
- Please note, there are different Ministry of Health Guidelines for Early Childhood Centres (ECC) - view here

Government

On 11 May the Government also released more information on how different alert levels will work more generally. Please click on the tables below to find out more.

You can view the latest information on the Government's COVID-19 website.

Updated 12 May

Supporting a healthy, active region.