Kia ora koutou,
On the 19th of October 2021 the Ministry of Health ('MOH') released guidelines for Allied Health practitioners under COVID Alert Level 3 ('L3'). It is important to note these guidelines are fluid and will continue to evolve as the country navigates its way through living with COVID-19 in our community.
MOH have published the risk assessment flow chart below, Massage New Zealand urges you to work through the risk assessments and decision making with caution to ensure your decision to reconvene your practice at Alert Level 3 is within the boundaries set out by the MOH.
Please also consider the environment you practice in. Many of us are in a shared space and are not responsible for cleaning and disinfecting this shared space, do not have control over how many people occupy a shared space at one time or the duration of operating hours, thus increasing exposure to you, your clients, colleagues, and families. Those who have single occupancy or work from home should also consider their exposure as clients travel through the community to visit you.
Enquiries made with BizCover confirm, "that cover will not be negated nor prejudiced as long as the guidelines and protocols are followed". We highly recommend you contact your own insurance company to confirm your policy covers a pandemic. If your workplace becomes a 'place of interest', the onus is yours to prove to your insurers that you have followed all guidelines and protocols.
When weighing up whether you wish to open your clinic to clients - please take into consideration all the factors involved and the ramifications and repercussions for yourself, your families, and your clients as well as the impact on the reputation of the professional industry as a whole.
If you believe that you can strictly abide by the flowchart above and will follow the protocols detailed in the letter from the Ministry of Health (see PDF links below) - only then open. We have serious reservations about the advisability of doing so, but it is ultimately your choice.
Nga mihi nui
MNZ Executive Team
MOH Risk Assessment Flow Chart PDF
Letter from the Ministry of Health
The following link to a UK guide for ventilation in workplaces during the pandemic was also shared by AHANZ: https://breathefreely.org.uk/ventilation-tool/
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