4 March, 2020

As you will be aware, Novel Coronavirus / COVID-19 has reached New Zealand although the likelihood of a widespread outbreak remains low-moderate.

Sport NZ and HPSNZ are both assessing the impact of this health event on the play, active recreation and sport system and issuing information as relevant in conjunction with lead agencies including the MoH and MFAT.

It is recommended that all individuals and organisations in the play, active recreation and sport sector continue to follow the advice of the Ministry of Health who are able to share the latest information on a range of topics from travel to holding public events and mass gatherings.

Advice to date indicates individuals should be vigilant with personal hygiene and avoid people with cold or flu symptoms. Physical activity often involves being together in groups or at events. At this stage, the Ministry of Health is not recommending any changed approach to holding gatherings and events. Advice for event organisers is published on their dedicated web pages. There is also a Healthline COVID-19 number- 0800 358 5453. 

With respect to outbound travel by athletes and related staff to other countries, you can read some useful information published by High Performance Sport NZ here.

As part of our response, Sport NZ is currently gathering information on the potential impact of this global health event on the play, active recreation and sport sector. You will likely receive contact from your Partnerships Manager over the next couple of days seeking information around organisational preparedness, travel, planned events and support that you may need. We’d appreciate your help with this short stocktake so that we can assess overall preparedness and risk.

If you have a question not covered by Ministry of Health information, or specific to the sport and recreation context, please feel free to contact your Partnerships Manager as usual.

Peter Miskimmin
Chief Executive

Sport NZ