Greater Wellington
COVID-19 Hub

Situation Update

Vaccination requirements for children turning 12 years old were recently updated. If a child turns 12 years old before their second dose, they will receive the adult dose of the COVID-19 vaccination.  An 8-week gap is recommended between the paediatric and adult doses. This change only affects those who turn 12 between receiving their first and second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.  Children under 12 are still only eligible for paediatric doses.

In September 2022, The COVID-19 Protection Framework (traffic lights) were removed. With cases reducing, a highly-vaccinated population, and comprehensive access to anti-viral medicines, New Zealand can safely move forward.

The COVID-19 response will remain active and operating in the background, with fewer restrictions on individuals. This will mean that:

  • Masks: You will only need to wear a mask when visiting healthcare facilities like hospitals, GPs, pharmacies and aged care residential facilities.
  • Some places, such as workplaces, special events, or marae may ask people to wear a mask as a condition of entry. This will be at their discretion and no longer a Government requirement. People are encouraged to respect those who continue to keep wearing masks for the protection they offer against COVID-19.
  • Isolation: You only need to self-isolate if you test positive for COVID-19. Leave support payments for COVID-19 cases will continue.
  • Household Contacts are recommended to take a RAT every day for five days. So long as you test negative, you will be able to go about daily life as normal. You’re encouraged to wear a mask whenever you leave home, particularly if visiting vulnerable people, like elderly or immunocompromised people, using public transport, or when in a crowded indoor space.
  • International Travellers: You will no longer need to be vaccinated to enter New Zealand. People arriving in New Zealand from overseas will continue to receive free RATs at the airport and will be encouraged to test on day 0/1 and 5/6.
  • Vaccine Mandates: All remaining vaccine mandates will end. The last workforce with a Government vaccine mandate is health and disability workers. This will end on 11:59pm, 26 September 2022. Some employers may still require workers to be vaccinated due to their responsibilities under health and safety legislation.
  • Anti-viral medicines will be available for free to any New Zealander 65+ who tests positive for COVID-19. For Māori and Pacific peoples, these medicines will be available for free to anyone aged 50+ who tests positive. In addition, anyone with three high-risk conditions is eligible for free anti-viral medicines.

You can find more information here: https://covid19.govt.nz/


Daily cases infographic

Daily hospitalisation image

The information included in these tiles will be updated on a Monday each week. It is snapshot in time created by balancing the need to protect public health with the individual right to privacy. It does not necessarily reflect the level of risk in each community. We reserve the right to change the way this information is provided.

 

Getting prepared

Everyone should prepare for what they need to do if they get COVID-19. Here are some steps you can take.

Getting vaccinated

Find out the easiest way you can get vaccinated.

Isolating at home

If you or someone you live with gets COVID-19 you will all need to isolate at home for 10 days. Find out what that looks like.

Share your recovery tips

Everyone has a different experience of COVID-19. What's yours? Tell us how COVID-19 affected you and your top tips for recovery.

More than 100,000 people in the greater Wellington region have had COVID-19 since the pandemic, many of them since Omicron arrived on our shores. That's a huge amount of collective knowledge when it comes to looking after yourself and your family and recovering safely.

Your experience could help someone else in our region.

You could include things like:

  • how you managed your symptoms
  • what it felt like
  • how you coped with isolation including if you had kids with COVID-19  
  • what help you received from other people to get through COVID-19

Share your tips via our Facebook page or send us a short selfie video that we can share via social media. We're pulling together some of the best tips on our Recovery Tips page.

Looking after yourself

 

For many people COVID-19 will feel like a mild to heavy cold and you're best to treat it in the same way.

  • Rest
  • Drink plenty of fluids
  • Use remedies or over the counter medications to soothe your symptoms.

This tip sheet can give you some ideas or take a look here for more info.

If your symptoms worsen and you are concerned about your health:

  • Contact your GP or iwi health provider - 8am-5pm
  • Contact Healthline on 0800 358 5453 afterhours

If you or a family member have difficulty breathing, feel seriously unwell or unsafe call 111 immediately and tell them you have COVID-19.

Here's a handy video with tips on making yourself as comfortable as possible while you recover.

 


Managing your symptoms

Tips and more information about how to soothe and manage the most common symptoms of COVID-19 so you can be as comfortable as possible as you recover.

Making breathing easier

COVID-19 can often make it harder to breathe or cause breathlessness, there are some simple things you can do to help your breathing.

Mental health and wellbeing

After two years of COVID-19, it’s more important than ever to know the key steps to managing your mental health.

Here are some quick links to websites and materials to help you and your whānau navigate COVID-19 in your whare and your community.

Mental Wellbeing

COVID-19 has been hard for us all
I whēuaua te KOWHEORI-19 ki a tātou katoa

If you need support, mental health and well-being resources are available to help you and your whānau.

Find out more at COVID19.govt.nz/mentalhealth.

Prepare:

Test:

Isolate:

Vaccination

Information and materials in other languages

Information and materials in alternative formats:

Look out for misinformation

Misinformation, scams and online harm about COVID-19 and the vaccine work against us at a time when we need to work together to beat the spread of the virus.

Get the facts

You can find the most accurate and reliable information about COVID-19 and the vaccine from several trusted sources.

Reporting misinformation

You can help warn others about scams and misinformation by reporting them through official channels. It's easy. Find out how.

Discussing misinformation

Talking to loved ones about misinformation can be hard. Here are some tips on having meaningful and respectful conversations.