It is important to keep track of high-risk locations you have been at and who you have been with, so you know who to tell if you test positive for COVID-19.
As Omicron is now widespread, we no longer need to contact trace individual cases. This means you do not need to maintain records for contact tracing purposes.
However, if you test positive for COVID-19, you need to tell the people you have been in contact with while infectious that you have COVID-19. This can include others you live with, your colleagues or workplace, friends, or school.
Even if your contacts do not have to isolate, they should still be given the information so they can make decisions for themselves.
It is still a good idea to:
- keep track of people you have been with
- record any high-risk locations you have visited, for example hospitals or aged care facilities
- keep Bluetooth tracing turned on in the NZ COVID Tracer app.
If you test positive, you will be sent a link to an online form, where you can share:
- contact details of your contacts
- details of any high-risk locations you have visited
- Bluetooth data from the NZ COVID Tracer app.
This information can help stop the spread of the virus in high-risk locations and protect our vulnerable communities.
You can continue to use the NZ COVID Tracer app. We recommend you keep the NZ COVID Tracer app on your phone. We may bring back the contact tracing system if another variant of concern arrives in New Zealand.
NZ COVID Tracer app | Ministry of Health
You can also use the NZ COVID Tracer app to find key links to:
- request free RATs so you can test for COVID-19 at home if you are unwell
- record your RAT result
- book your booster dose
- find information if you test positive or are a Household Contact.
To access these links, select ‘Dashboard’, and open the ‘more info’ tab.
Turn on Bluetooth tracing
You should keep your Bluetooth tracing turned on. Notifications will still be sent out to people who have been near someone with COVID-19.
Bluetooth tracing allows you to receive an alert if you have been near another app user who tests positive for COVID-19. It is safe, private and anonymous.
How Bluetooth tracing works | Ministry of Health
How privacy is protected in the NZ COVID Tracer app | Ministry of Health
If you cannot or do not use the app, use whatever method works for you, like the NZ COVID Tracer booklet.
We recommend you keep track of:
- where you went
- when you went there
- who you met.
NZ COVID Tracer booklet, 36 pages A5 [PDF, 664 KB]
NZ COVID Tracer booklet, 3 pages — print onto A4 paper and fold into a booklet [PDF, 116 KB]
A simplified version is available for disabled communities:
NZ COVID Tracer booklet, simplified [PDF, 2.6 MB]
You can also order copies of the NZ COVID Tracer booklet if you cannot print your own. You can also order booklets in other languages.
Order NZ COVID Tracer booklets
Email: Covid.Comms@dpmc.govt.nz
The Ministry of Health is no longer publishing locations of interest. Case investigations are focused on high-risk exposures and Household Contacts.