Kia ora

Thank you for your request for official information.

The Ministry's reference number for your request is: H202002457.

As required under the Act we will endeavour to respond to your request no
later than 18 May 2020, being 20 working days after the day your request
was received.  

If we are unable to respond to your request within this time frame, we
will notify you of an extension of that time frame.

If you have any queries related to this request, please do not hesitate to
get in touch.

Please note, due to the emergence of Covid-19 the Ministry has diverted
significant resources to responding to the pandemic. This may impact on
our ability to respond to your request. If you would like to reconsider or
refine your current request, this may enable us to respond more quickly.
You can notify us of any changes to your request by responding to this
email.

Ngā mihi

OIA Services
Government Services
Office of the Director-General
Ministry of Health
E: [email address]

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Kia ora Jess
Thank you for your request for information under the Official Information
Act 1982 (the Act) to the Ministry of Health (the Ministry) for:

"As the company is refusing to release numbers to staff on how many staff
members have tested positive for COVID-19 (Coronavirus), we faithfully ask
if you can release these numbers to us.

They don't have to include any identifying personal data, simply a number
of positive tests will suffice.

We have no way of assessing how safe we really are when we go to work (and
fly) without these facts."

The Ministry does not collect the number of confirmed and probable cases
broken down by workplace. While the Ministry does holds some information
on the number of Air New Zealand staff that have been classified as a
confirmed case, this dataset it not complete because the confirmed and
probable cases reported to the Ministry, has not always included
occupation data. To report on the dataset the Ministry holds, would be
reporting on an incomplete dataset that is not accurate thus, the reason
for reporting on the number of cases via DHB regions. As such, your
request for this information is refused under section 18(g) of the Act, as
this information is not held by the Ministry or another agency subject to
the Act, at this time.

You have the right under section 28(3) of the Act, to ask the Ombudsman to
review any decisions made under this request.

Thank you for taking the time to write to the Ministry.

Ngā mihi

OIA Services
Government Services
Office of the Director-General
Ministry of Health
E: [email address]

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