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Kia ora Erika 
 

Thank you for your request for information, received on 11 November 2025.
Please find attached our response.
 

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------------------- Original Message -------------------
From: Erika Whittome <[FOI #32822 email]>; 
Received: Wed Nov 12 2025 07:29:21 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
To: [Health New Zealand request email]; 
Subject: Official Information request - Covid-19 Streams documents at
various DHBs

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
———————————————————-

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

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