10 September 2021
As things settle down a bit, we’ll try to be respectful of your inbox and limit the volume of emails. That said, we do have a couple of things to share today. The first is some further guidance to help those in Auckland plan for whatever happens next week and the second is guidance on contact tracing and privacy.
Scenario planning for Auckland clinics
We’re expecting an announcement on Monday afternoon about the alert level in Auckland. While we have our fingers crossed for a step-down, we suggest taking a stoic approach and planning for the possibility of more time at level 4. With that in mind, we’ve prepared some brief guidance on companion animal vaccinations and desexing in the context of level 4 going beyond 28 days. While it’s focussed on those procedures, the underlying logic can be used for other decision making.
If the alert level is stepped down, the rules will likely be set in legislation next week and are likely to be similar to those set recently for the rest of the country. As such, it may be helpful to look at our guidance and previous emails to aid in planning.
It’s now mandatory to have both a QR code and an alternative contact record collection method in place. While the QR code system is quite simple, collecting and keeping contact records can raise some privacy issues, whether you’re relying on clinic records or using a separate register. We’ve put together some guidance on contact tracing to help navigate these issues, based on general guidance from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.
We’ll likely be back in touch on Tuesday. If you have any questions or comments in the meantime, please do get in touch.
I orea te tuatara ka patu ki waho