If you test positive for COVID-19, it is recommended you isolate for at least 5 days, even if you only have mild symptoms, starting at Day 0. This includes if you have had COVID-19 before.
Day 0 is the day your symptoms started or when you tested positive, whichever came first.
Isolation means not going to work or school.
Your Household Contacts do not need to isolate.
If you are a Household Contact of someone who has COVID-19, we recommend you do a RAT each day for 5 days. You are a Household Contact if:
- you normally live in a house or flat on a permanent or part-time basis, for example, shared custody, with a person who has tested positive, and
- you spent at least 1 night or day (more than 8 hours) in that residence while the person was infectious.
You are also a Household Contact if you do not normally share a residence with the person who has COVID-19, but spent a night together in the same room.
For people travelling or holidaying around New Zealand, Household Contacts include people who share non-communal holiday accommodation such as a hotel room, tent, campervan, or temporary holiday home such as a bach or AirBNB.
What to do during your recommended isolation period
You should stay at home and avoid contact with other people in your household.
Find out what to do when isolating, including advice if you need to leave isolation, and how to ventilate your home.
How to self-isolate
Ventilation and COVID-19
If you need to go out
If you need to go out during your recommended isolation, we recommend you wear a face mask.
Some healthcare facilities and certain areas within healthcare facilities may ask visitors to wear a face mask. This is to protect those at higher risk, for example patients receiving care in an intensive care unit or emergency department of a hospital. To protect those at higher risk, respect and follow the healthcare facilities policies.
