24/01/2022
Hi Everyone,
Please see the below, latest updates on advice for apartment dwellers on isolating with COVID-19.
Please notify us if you are isolating so we can assist with rubbish and deliveries
Information for people with COVID-19 who are self-isolating in apartments, temporary or holiday accommodation
This document is intended to give guidance for people who test positive for COVID-19 who may be self-isolating in apartments, temporary or holiday accommodation.
If you test positive for COVID-19, it is important that you isolate away from others to contain the spread of the virus and keep our wider community safe. For many, isolation with support from our COVID-19 Care in the Community programme will represent an appropriate and safe option while they recover.
If you are away from home, you may need to isolate in your temporary or holiday accommodation. If you test positive for COVID-19 while on holiday, a care coordinator will call you to discuss your relevant circumstances and advise you as to what you should do.
Follow the advice from the people who are managing your case and isolate for the time required.
Information and advice about how to safely isolate/quarantine can be found on the Ministry of Health website: https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19- novel-coronavirus/covid-19-health-advice-public/covid-19-self-isolation-managed- isolation-quarantine
Your close contacts, including those who may be with you in your accommodation, will need to get tested several times while in isolation/quarantine. The Public Health Unit will advise you if you are a close contact and the steps you will need to take for testing and isolation/quarantine.
Isolating means you cannot go out of your apartment or temporary housing (for example, your holiday accommodation) for any reason.
If you have a balcony, it is recommended you leave the doors to the balcony open to allow the circulation of air into your apartment. Do not use your balcony if the neighbouring balconies are being used.
You will need your own bathroom, kitchen and, ideally, laundry facilities while you are isolating.
Consider what help you may need from friends and/or family to isolate/quarantine safely, including the types of task you would normally complete yourself but won’t be able to, such as grocery shopping.
You will need to have groceries and medicines delivered to you. Deliveries must be left outside where you are isolating.
If security arrangements don’t enable access to outside where you are isolating, you will need a plan for someone to get these deliveries from the main accessway to outside your door.
You will need to have friends or whānau who are not isolating to collect and dispose of your rubbish. Double-bag your rubbish and leave it for collection outside where you are isolating.
If your accommodation only has shared laundry facilities, you will need someone to do your laundry.
If you need extra support, the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) can coordinate some support for you. This could be from a community organisation, a government agency, a marae-based service, or support established by iwi.
If you need support, you can call your COVID-19 welfare guide, if you have one, or the COVID-19 Welfare phone line on 0800 512 337, 7 days a week.
If you need urgent medical help or cannot breathe properly, call 111 immediately. Tell them you have COVID-19 when you ring.
For apartments
You are not legally obliged to provide any details of your identity, or the unit you are living in, to your building’s body corporate committee.
However, the possibility of you receiving assistance from your body corporate committee may be dependent on your willingness to identify yourself as a COVID-19 case or contact to work with them to ensure they can support you with any assistance you may require.
Additional guidance
Additional guidance for occupants and body corporate committees about how to prepare for and manage an apartment building where a COVID-19 case is self-isolating, and for occupants, property managers and owners of temporary accommodation, including holiday accommodation, at https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel- coronavirus/covid-19-health-advice-public/covid-19-self-isolation-managed-isolation-quarantine