SCHOOL SPORT NEW ZEALAND UPDATE - COVID19

Schools

Update - 24 March 2020

 

SUSPENSION OF EVENTS ON THE SCHOOL SPORT NZ CALENDAR OF NATIONAL EVENTS EXTENDED TO MAY 5th.

Thank you for your patience as we worked through the events of Summer Tournament Week with the NSOs in providing early notice to schools of the suspension of events on the national calendar to April 6th.

We have now been able to work with the next group of NSOs who had planned to deliver events, mainly in the upcoming school holidays. The NSOs have all confirmed they would be unable to deliver events that comply with government directives and safe practice in the Covid-19 environment.

Given the raised level of government Covid-19 alert and the ongoing uncertainty, the board of School Sport NZ has announced the School Sport NZ calendar of national events will be further suspended until May 5th.

This will also allow further decisions to be informed by the position of NSOs who have largely announced bans on activity in their sport until May 2nd.

We will continue to work with NSOs to determine which of the suspended events are now cancelled and which may be able to postpone to a date later in the year. Please check the School Sport NZ website as this information will be updated as we can resolve individual events.

16 March 2020

Following the government announcement today banning gatherings and events of 500 or more and in conjunction with NSOs with events scheduled this term, the board of School Sport NZ has confirmed that all events on the School Sport NZ national calendar are suspended.

This decision will be reviewed on Monday 6th April. Some events where alternative dates are not possible will be cancelled, others may be postponed and we will work with NSOs to make announcements in due course. Click here for full release.

15 March 2020

 We understand the level of uncertainty regarding the Covoid-19 situation and potential impact on Summer Tournament week events. We have been sending schools regular updates and continue to base this on the official advice from government relating to events.

The government announced on Saturday 14th March that a statement in relation to mass gatherings will be made early this week.

School Sport NZ continues to take its advice in relation to mass gatherings and sport events from the Ministry of Health. Once the new information from government has been made available we will, in conjunction with our NSO partners, update our advice to schools accordingly as soon as possible.

4 March 2020

 As you will be well aware NZ recently confirmed its first case of COVID-19. School Sport NZ continues to take its advice from the Ministry of Health in relation to staging sports events within the current environment.

The current advice from the Ministry of Health states:

To date, New Zealand has had a single case of COVID-19.

We have been using our pandemic plan to guide our actions since the World Health Organization announced in January an outbreak of a new coronavirus in mainland China. We’re ready and well prepared.

We’re confident the swift actions by the person and their family, and the health sector, means there is a low risk of any spread into the community from this case.

New Zealand does not have COVID-19 circulating in our communities.

We knew the likelihood of an imported case in New Zealand was high, however, the likelihood of a widespread outbreak is low-moderate.

It is critically important that we all work together to protect New Zealanders from COVID-19 and play our part in the global effort to contain it.

We all need to follow our public health messaging, such as hand hygiene and cough etiquette, and we’re closely managing any cases and contacts.

Specifically in relation to sporting events the Ministry of Health has published the following statement:

At this stage, the Ministry of Health does not propose altering arrangements for public events. If you are an event organiser, you should focus on:

  • reminding the public and event workers not to attend if they are feeling unwell
  • reminding the public and event workers not to attend if they have been in or transited through mainland China or Iran in the past 14 days
  • ensuring your emergency management plan is up to date
  • briefing your event staff on how to practice good hygiene and making it easy for staff and attendees to practice good hygiene

Taking into account the above information School Sport NZ recommends:

  • before deciding to proceed with, restrict, modify, postpone or cancel your event you complete a thorough risk assessment. This means you should consider:
  • the latest local, national and international advice on COVID-19 (the Ministry of Health, your local public health unit and the World Health Organization will provide reputable, evidence-based information and updates)
  • whether people attending your event may have been exposed to, or infected with, COVID-19 and what risk this might pose to others
  • the characteristics of your event (for example, the number of people expected; accommodation arrangements; indoor or outdoor, duration, the countries that participants, performers and attendees are travelling from; etc.) and whether they might increase the risk and/or spread of COVID-19
  • what measures you could put in place (see above) to help reduce the spread of any disease.

School Sport NZ will continue to closely monitor the situation and be guided by the Ministry of Health’s information as to sport events and mass gatherings.

As per our previous update the Ministry of Health website contains resources for event providers around best practice and mitigation of virus spread. Full list of links here

We encourage all event providers to review their Health and Safety plans around this specific outbreak and update actions accordingly.

If you have any further questions please contact the School Sport NZ Event Manager:

events@schoolsportnz.org.nz

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