Dear Health New Zealand,
In early October 2021 there was a document that identified”Covid 19 streams”. I will copy and paste from the 8 Oct 2021 document from Waikato DHB:
“COVID-19 stream definition to assist where vulnerable workers may work
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The only COVID-19 stream areas within Waikato DHB, at this stage, defined for the purposes of vulnerable workers are

· The Waikato Hospital Emergency Department (ED) Yellow stream (which takes a high volume of pa�ents with respiratory symptoms and therefore a raised risk of COVID-19)
· The COVID-19 specific area of A2 (four individual rooms completely separated from the rest of A2)
· The COVID-19 specific area of ICU (not currently in use but completely separate from the rest of ICU)
· The COVID-19 specific Room B4 in Delivery Suite (has yet to be used for a COVID-19 delivery).
Importantly the other Emergency Departments within the DHB are NOT COVID-19 streams under the vulnerable worker definition.
Also the use of N95 masks and eye protection in an area does not define a COVID-19 stream. Finally, a respiratory presentation to an area does not define that area as a COVID-19 stream.
For clarification, Middlemore ED have defined the whole of their Emergency Department as a COVID-19 stream due to ventilation issues. The Waikato Hospital Yellow stream has a separate ventilation system from the Waikato ED Green stream.
We trust that this provides guidance as to how vulnerable workers should be managed within the context of COVID-19 streams.“

Would you please share the documents containing Covid-19 stream definitions for all the other DHBs in New Zealand from around October 2021?

Yours faithfully,

Erika Whittome