Ela Bates-Hermans / Staff
Government advice on retesting after recovery from Covid has changed. (File photo)
The government has changed the official Covid-19 reinfection advice, shortening the window from 90 days to 29 days. The changes were announced Thursday as part of a series of steps to strengthen the orange traffic light settings.
What does this mean?
In a nutshell: People who have recovered from Covid-19 but experienced symptoms more than 29 days after the infection should be tested, and if the test is positive, they should be quarantined.
What was your previous advice?
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Previously, if Covid was positive within the last 90 days, people did not need to be retested. This means that people infected with Covid can avoid being tested for the next three months, even if Covid’s symptoms reappear.
Robin Eddie / Staff
Matua Kuresa and his family spent weeks in isolation as they became infected with Covid-19.
Why did the advice change?
Dr. Ayesha Verrall, Covid-19’s response minister, said the move was based on the latest international evidence and the need to quickly isolate re-infected people.
There are few reinfections, but “they can increase,” says Verrall.
She says the BA.5 Omicron subvariant is expected to dominate the country in the coming weeks and is different from what most kiwis initially caught.
There is evidence that this subvariant is particularly effective in reinfecting people who have already captured and recovered from Covid.
What if the test is positive?
If the test is positive, it should be quarantined for 7 days. Day 0 is the earlier when the test is positive or when symptoms begin.
However, if you are still ill after 7 days, you will need to stay home until you are well.
Household contacts with Covid must also be quarantined and inspected for 7 days. However, this advice does not apply to contacts in households infected with Covid within the last 90 days. Unless you have symptoms, you do not need to quarantine.
Covid-19 Minister of Response Ayesha Verrall announced the change on Thursday. (File photo)
What if the test is negative?
If you have symptoms of Covid-19 but have a negative rapid antigen test, you will need to test again after 1-2 days. People infected with Covid-19 may have negative RAT results.
If your symptoms worsen, contact your healthcare provider or call Healthline.
Both positive and negative results should be recorded in MyCovidRecord.
How likely are you to be re-infected?
Modeling released by Covid-19 in early June Modeling of Aotearoa suggests that more than 10% of people infected with Covid-19 will be re-infected by the end of the year.
All scenarios modeled by the group predict a new wave of virus as immunity weakens later this year and probably peaks between August and November.
This includes a worst-case model that depicts a scenario that combines a rapid decline in post-infection immunity with a return to pre-pandemic mixing from July.
According to Covid-19 Modeling Aotearoa, reinfection will account for 46% of infections by the end of 2022 in this scenario.