Guidance on Fencing activities under Covid-19 Alert Level 2
Sport NZ Covid-19 Alert Level 2 guidelines allow for sports, including contact sports, to resume if they are compliant with public health measures. This means that sports can only resume where good contact tracing is possible and hygiene measures,
particularly washing and drying of hands and regular sanitising of equipment and surfaces, are in place.
Sport NZ has confirmed that the gathering maximum of 10 within an indoor facility applies to all community sport. Therefore, all fencing clubs are required to restrict their attendees including fencers, spectators, coaches and officials to 10 persons at any one time.
All fencing clubs wishing to operate under COVID19 Alert Level 2 are responsible for meeting these guidelines and implementing the necessary procedures to comply with the public health measures. Clubs that open are subject to the following regulations:
- Gatherings within the indoor facility must be restricted to a maximum of 10 people at any one time until further notice (or fewer, according to the safe limit for the chosen venue). This includes fencers, spectators, coaches and officials and any other persons present within the facility.
- Nobody should be admitted to the venue who is unwell or displaying any respiratory symptoms, and anyone expecting a test or awaiting a test result must be excluded.
- A contact tracing record must be kept of all those attending the venue, whether they are spectators, coaches, officials or participants.
- Hand washing/sanitising facilities must be provided on entry to and exit from the venue and are also available for use during the Club activity.
- No sharing of equipment is permissible during the Club activity.
- Loan equipment (eg masks, gloves and clothing) need to be sanitised between users and between Club activities. Surfaces within the venue should be regularly cleaned and disinfected.
- Fencers and coaches should maintain a 2m separation when off piste.
- Non-participants/spectators maintain 2m separation from each other at all times.
Checklist for Clubs
To assist Clubs, Fencing NZ has drafted a checklist for Clubs to complete with procedures implemented to comply with the regulations. The checklist includes examples of steps that could be used, but each Club should identify its own solution for each area. This checklist should be copied to your Regional Secretary and be displayed at the venue. The Checklist and Contract Tracing Form can be found under Health & Safety Documentation.
It is expected that the gathering limit could be increased to 100 persons in a few weeks, at which time full Club activities and regional competitions should be able to re-start. At that point this checklist will be reviewed and updated. Organisers of Club and regional competitions will need to keep a close watch on Ministry of Health and Sport NZ guidelines including when we enter COVID19 alert level 1.
These guidelines are based on those published by Sport NZ; link here.
With respect to contact tracing registers, personal information about each participant of any Club activity must be recorded in an electronic or on-line register for the sole purpose of contact tracing ONLY. This information should be accessible to the Ministry of Health at all times for contact tracing purposes for up to 4 weeks from the date of activity. The register must be kept in a safe way in accordance with the Club’s privacy requirements.
See https://sportnz.org.nz/covid-19/sector-advice/contact-tracing/ which links to a spreadsheet example, and includes suggested wording to ensure registrants know why and how the personal information is used.
Clubs are encouraged to display guidance and important public health advice. Posters can be downloaded from the COVID19.govt.nz/resources/posters website about hand washing, physical distancing and staying home if unwell.
The Fencing New Zealand Board wishes all our members a safe and happy return to our sport.