This section provides the latest updates, information and advice on COVID-19.
Current situation
New Zealand has 1,497 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19. More information is available on our current cases page. With continued vigilance the chance of widespread community outbreak is expected to remain low.
New Zealand is currently at Alert Level 3 – Restrict. To find out more see:
On Thursday 14 May New Zealand will move to to Alert Level 2 - Reduce. Information about Alert Level 2 is available on the COVID 19 website. Detailed information about health and disability services will be available soon.
Important updates
- Contact tracing phone calls: If you have been identified as a close contact, you can expect calls from Ministry of Health and Healthline. It is important to answer your phone. Find out how to recognise a call from the Ministry or Healthline at Contact tracing.
- Personal protective equipment (PPE): What's important for you to know about PPE.
- Breaches of COVID-19 restrictions: If you're concerned about a breach of current COVID-19 restrictions, you can report it to the COVID-19 Compliance Centre.
For COVID-19 health advice and information, contact the Healthline team (for free) on 0800 358 5453 or +64 9 358 5453 for international SIMS.
- Advice for all health professionals
- Allied health professionals
- Cancer and screening services
- Case definition
- Disability, aged care and hospice providers
- Funded temporary accommodation
- Join the COVID-19 surge workforce
- Maternity
- Medical transfer
- Mental health and addiction
- PPE use in health care
- Pharmacy
- Primary care
- Recording COVID-19
- Telehealth and online tools
- Well Child providers
- Accommodation providers
- Air crew and border sector
- Cleaning services
- Deaths, funerals and tangihanga
- Disabled people
- Hospice patients
- Older people
- Parents
- Personal protective equipment (PPE)
- Pregnant women
- Public events and mass gatherings
- Travellers arriving to NZ
- Supporting a person with dementia
- Workplaces
Latest updates
Our advice is under active review and is updated regularly. The latest updates include the following changes to the website:
12 May:
- Support for parents with new babies
- Health Act (COVID-19 Alert Level 3) Amendment Order 2020
- Updated data on COVID-19 testing rates for ethnicity and DHB
- Clinical guidance for responding to patients with an intellectual (learning) disability during COVID-19 in Aotearoa New Zealand
- Funded temporary accommodation for front-line workers
11 May:
- Added: Guidelines for mental health and addiction providers
- Updated: Personal protective equipment use for non-health workers
- Updated: Ventilators and ICU bed capacity
- Mental health resources for disability support service providers
- Border advisory - 9 May 2020
9 May:
- Case and contact management: Monitoring and reporting to achieve and sustain elimination of COVID-19
8 May:
- Updated: PPE use in health care
- Added: Frequently asked questions about PPE
- Scenarios to help you keep your bubble safe under Alert Level 3
- Advice for community allied health, scientific and technical providers
- Updated: Advice to airline crew on precautions to reduce risk of COVID-19 infection
- Working paper: Background and overview of approaches to COVID-19 pandemic control in Aotearoa/New Zealand
- Deaths, funerals and tangihanga updated
- Managing your bubble during COVID-19
7 May:
- Guidelines for personal protective equipment: Disability support and care workers who work in client’s homes
- Updated: Personal protective equipment requirement for community care providers who are providing care in people’s place of residence
- Updated: Frequently asked questions about personal protective equipment
- Review of science and policy around face masks and COVID-19
- Updated: Advice to airline crew on precautions to reduce risk of COVID-19 infection
6 May: