The Ministry of Justice and Courts New Zealand has outlined a Close Contact Scheme for critical justice sector workers in close contact with COVID patients. Workers who cannot execute their work remotely will be allowed to continue their work if they apply for the Close Contact Exemption Scheme as long as they:
- are fully vaccinated and asymptomatic
- fall under the ‘critical services’ category
- return a negative rapid antigen test (RAT) prior to each day/shift they are at work during the isolation period, and
- follow specific health protocols.
This scheme will allow the judicial system to continue operating throughout the second and third phase of the Omicron response.