Matthew Hooton
[FYI request #17592 email]
CHOIAH202203033
Dear Matthew
Response to your request for official information
Thank you for your requests under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) on 7 March
2022. Information in response to each part of your request is outlined below.
1.The number of people in the New Zealand contact tracing system.
On 11 March 2022, you were advised to clarify this part of your request to identify if you are
seeking the number of COVID-19 cases or contacts in the contact tracing system, as some
data will include people who have been both a COVID-19 case and contact, and therefore
may be counted twice. On 22 March 2022, you advised that:
“Part one of my request is for the number of people using the contact tracing system
(via the app or using paper) on the date of my request.”
On 17 November 2021, there were 2,785,815 QR code scans, 69,370 manual application
entries, and 1,199,451 active devices (defined as the number of devices that have either
scanned a code or added a manual entry during the period) on the on the NZ COVID Tracer
App. The number of people in the system who were being actively managed as close
contacts on 17 November 2021 was 5975.
2. The criteria for inclusion in the contact tracing system.
As of 17 November 2021, the following categories were used to define who would be
considered a case or a contact for management and contact tracing purposes:
Confirmed COVID-19 case
Probable COVID-19 case
Household close contact
Close-plus contact
Close contact
Casual-plus contact
Casual contact
Contacts that are identified in each these categories are then uploaded to the National
Contact Tracing System. Further information about the operational definitions for each of
these different categories is outlined in Appendix 1 of this letter.
3. Advice you have sought on how an arrival to New Zealand could gain entry into
the contract tracing system.
4. Advice you have received on how an arrival to New Zealand could gain entry into
the contract tracing system.
5. Advice you have received on any operational or administrative barriers to requiring
all arrivals in New Zealand to enter into the contract tracing system.
6. Advice you have received on what cumulative risk those operational or
administrative barriers would add to people already in New Zealand in terms of
becoming (a) infected and (b) seriously ill with Covid 19.
7. Any other information on which your statement of 17 November quoted above was
based.
My Office has not identified any information within scope of these parts of your request.
Therefore, they are refused under section 18(e) of the Act. It is important to note that the
quote your request centres on relates to the justification for border opening/restrictions:
www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2021-
11/Press%20Conference%2017%20November%202021.pdf As such, you may wish to
contact the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment for further information:
www.mbie.govt.nz/about/open-government-and-official-information/make-a-request-for-
official-information/ For your information, lists and copies of advice received by my Office from the Ministry of
Health are proactively released on the following links:
www.health.govt.nz/about-ministry/information-releases/advice-provided-ministers
www.covid19.govt.nz/about-our-covid-19-response/proactive-releases/health-
response/
Under section 28(3) of the Act, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review any
decisions made under this request. The Ombudsman may be contacted by email at:
[email address] or by calling 0800 802 602.
Yours sincerely
Chris Hipkins
Minister for COVID-19 Response
Appendix 1
Confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19
A confirmed case is anyone who has returned a PCR test which is positive for SARS-CoV-2.
A probable case is:
(a) a close contact of a confirmed case that has a high exposure history, meets the clinical
criteria and for whom testing cannot be performed, or
(b) a close contact of a confirmed case that has a high exposure history, meets the clinical
criteria, and has a negative PCR result but it has been more than 7 days since symptom
onset before their first negative PCR test was taken.
Confirmed case is a case that has laboratory definitive evidence. Laboratory definitive
evidence requires at least one of the following:
(a) detection of SARS-CoV-2 from a clinical specimen using a validated NAAT (PCR). Very
weak positive results will only be labelled a confirmed case when the result is confirmed on a
second sample.
(b) detection of coronavirus from a clinical specimen using pan-coronavirus NAAT (PCR)
and confirmation as SARS-CoV-2 by sequencing
(c) significant rise in IgG antibody level to SARS-CoV-2 between paired sera.
Probable case is:
(a) a close contact of a confirmed case that has a high exposure history, meets the clinical
criteria and for whom testing cannot be performed, or
(b) a close contact of a confirmed case that has a high exposure history, meets the clinical
criteria, and has a negative PCR result but it has been more than 7 days since symptom
onset before their first negative PCR test was taken.
Household and household-like close contacts of cases of COVID-19
“Al household members who live with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 (a
case) are household Close Contacts.”
“Household-like contacts are defined as those who have had frequent or prolonged indoor
interactions, including sexual contacts, overnight guests, shared living spaces, shared
custody arrangements. At the discretion of a medical officer of health (or delegate), other
Close contacts may be upgraded to Household-like.”
Close and close plus contacts of cases of COVID-19
“Assessment of ‘close contact’ involves a public health risk assessment that considers
multiple factors*, usually by a public health unit team led by a medical officer of health.
A person may be considered a close contact if they have exposure to the same air as a
confirmed (or probable) case during the case’s infectious period that is assessed as
significant, without appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE). Exposure to the same
air may include those in a setting immediately after the case, as well as while the case was
present. Face-to-face exposure in an enclosed environment that is more than fleeting, and
face-to-face contact outdoors within
1.5 metres for more than 15 minutes, will usually be
considered close contact.
In addition, any person with the following exposure will usually be considered a close
contact:
direct contact with the bodily fluids or the laboratory specimens of a case
living in the same household or household-like setting (e.g., shared section of in a
hostel) with a case
having been seated on an aircraft within
1.5 metres of a case (for economy class this
would mean 2 seats in any direction including seats across the aisle, other classes
would require further assessment)
aircraft crew exposed to a case (a risk assessment conducted by the public health
unit in collaboration with the airline is required to identify which crew should be
managed as close contacts).
*Factors that contribute to the public health risk assessment of the level of exposure include
(but are not limited to) those related to:
setting, duration, proximity, ventilation (e.g., indoor/outdoor, ventilation system,
airflow), crowding/ability to physical distance, length of time, type of activity (e.g.
eating/drinking, singing, shouting, talking, exercising)
case: infectiousness, level of symptoms, face coverings, hand hygiene, age (e.g.,
child vs adult)
contact: mitigating features (all wearing face coverings correctly, using hand
sanitizer, vaccination status)”
Casual and casual plus contacts of cases of COVID-19
“Casual Contacts are individuals who were at the same place at the same time as someone
who was infectious for COVID-19 (a location of interest). However, they are considered to be
at low risk of contracting COVID-19, because they have not been close enough to the
infectious person (within two metres), or near them for long enough (15 minutes or more) to
be considered at high risk.” OR “Any person who has had contact with COVID-19 but who
does not meet the close contact criteria.”
“A Casual Plus Contact is a Casual Contact where there is higher risk for transmission
and/or anyone who receives a yellow notification for a location of interest via the NZ COVID
Tracer app that says ‘Casual Plus Contact’.”