News

Influenza

On 28 February Pharmac announced the 2024 free flu vaccine eligibility criteria. This year the flu vaccine is free for people at higher risk of getting very sick, including:

  • People aged 65 years and over
  • People aged 6 months and over who have a long term medical condition like diabetes, asthma, or a heart condition
  • Pregnant people
  • Tamariki aged 4 years and under who have been hospitalised for respiratory illness, or have a history of significant respiratory illness
  • People with mental health conditions, including schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, or schizoaffective disorder
  • People who are currently accessing secondary or tertiary mental health and addiction services.

2024 influenza immunisation health promotion activity starts 2 April.

Measles

Te Whatu Ora | Health New Zealand has reinstated the Measles Locations of Interest in New Zealand on their website, which includes key links to additional measles information. Clinical information on the diagnosis and management of measles can be found on HealthPathways and within the Communicable Disease Control Manual.

COVID-19 Update from Te Whatu Ora

Update on COVID-19 testing advice

From 4 March 2024, recommended testing advice for household contacts of a positive Covid-19 case is changing:

  1. Household contacts of a positive C-19 case who do not have Covid symptoms are no longer recommended to test daily with a rapid antigen test (RAT) for 5 days following a positive case in the household.
  2. If a household contact of a positive COVID-19 case develops one or more Covid symptoms, they are recommended to stay at home and test for COVID-19 using a RAT.

This change aligns with public health guidance that advises RAT testing is generally not recommended when a person does not have any COVID-19 symptoms. Testing for COVID-19 with RATs remains an important tool to support effective ongoing management of COVID-19 outbreaks in high risk facilities, help reduce the impact of COVID-19 on hospital admission rates and enable eligible people to access antiviral medications.

Recommended COVID-19 testing advice continues to support:

  1. RAT testing if symptomatic.
  2. PCR testing if a result can influence treatment options.

On 4 March 2024, COVID-19 testing content that remains relevant for certain sector groups will be transferred to the COVID-19 chapter of the Communicable Diseases Manual and/or HealthPathways.

Changes to the tools we use to manage COVID-19

We’re making changes to how we provide, manage, and find information about COVID-19. The online tools we have used over the last few years have served us well but as we continue to transition our healthcare response to COVID-19, so it is managed in a similar way to other public health diseases, our online tools are also evolving to provide people with their health information and tools to manage their health in one place.

Info.health.nz to include COVID-19 advice and information

Info.health.nz is a newly launched consumer-facing website that provides reliable information and advice for a wide variety of health needs, to the people of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Info.health.nz will help people make informed decisions for themselves and their whānau and give them access to the healthcare services they need.  It will also include health information and advice about COVID-19, and become the main source of public information about COVID-19 from 29th February 2024.

Info.health.nz has been online since last November and there is no longer a need for a dedicated COVID-19 website.  Going forward visitors to www.covid19.govt.nz will be redirected to info.health.nz.

The Te Whatu Ora COVID-19 health professional webpage will continue to provide information to the professional sector.

The new website will continue to be reviewed and improved with more health information to help the people of Aotearoa manage their health, and that of their whānau and community.

My Health Record to replace My Covid Record

 The information and functions previously provided by My Covid Record is now available on My Health Record (https://my.health.nz/). From 28 February 2024, people should use My Health Record to report their RAT results, see previous COVID-19 test results and immunisation records.

My Health Record is a new secure website where New Zealanders can view their COVID health information and see their wider immunisation records (back to 2005). It also has the option for some parents to link to their children’s immunisation records.

My Health Record is an important step in our plan to support New Zealanders to access their health information online. Over time, it is expected that more health information will be available on My Health Record, such as current and past medications, lab results and community services, and high use card entitlements.

For more information on My Health Record please go to the Te Whatu Ora website.

Emergency Events

There are no current emergency events. For up-to-date information on known hazards, visit these sites:

Emergency Management Updates & Resources

Tsunami

Earthquakes

Weather

Other