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To: The Ministry of Health - Manatū Hauora, Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand, and the government and other regulatory bodies in charge of these regulations

A Call for Safe Air and Masking in Healthcare Settings

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We are a group of people living with severe Long Covid and/or ME/CFS in Aotearoa, New Zealand and abroad, who have come together to write a letter to the Ministry of Health Manatū Hauora, Hospital and Primary-Care Leadership, and those in the government responsible for public health decisions in  Aotearoa New Zealand, calling for the urgent reinstatement of basic airborne-infection-control measures (N95 masking & clean air) in all healthcare settings across the country. SARS-CoV-2  continues to ravage our community, creating an ongoing mass disability event. We aim to target a key place of transmission to the most vulnerable members of the community, preventing unnecessary illness, disability, and death across patients and staff. Please read our letter below:

Why is this important?

We, the undersigned clinicians, scientists, and health professionals, call for the urgent reinstatement of basic airborne-infection-control measures—clean indoor air and appropriate airborne respiratory protection —in all healthcare settings across Aotearoa, New Zealand. These are the simplest and most effective tools to prevent avoidable illness, disability, and death among both patients and staff. 

Since the withdrawal of SARS-CoV-2 COVID-19 mitigations, hospitals and clinics have faced relentless outbreaks of respiratory viruses. Emergency departments are routinely operating beyond safe capacity, and senior doctors have compared recent winters to “mass-casualty situations.” [1]

Aotearoa New Zealand’s “vax-and-relax” strategy has failed to protect our people. 1 in 5 children infected with COVID develop long-term symptoms. [2] Nurses and doctors have among the highest global rates of Long COVID [3], and ongoing staff illness contributes to understaffing, treatment delays, and preventable deaths. There are currently no adequate systems in place to support long COVID and post-viral disease in New Zealand, and instead, patients are met with medical gaslighting and a lack of medical and social support. [4]

COVID-19 causes vascular damage and damage to every organ in the body, including the brain and heart, due to its ability to target endothelial tissues. [5] It wreaks havoc on the immune system, leading to an impaired response to future immune assaults. This has led to the rise of more severe responses to other illnesses, worsening of current conditions, outbreaks of recurrent infections (including fungal and bacterial), thus increasing pressure on emergency medical services. [6] Excuses such as "immunity debt” are not scientifically substantiated; in fact, all viruses damage rather than enhance the immune system, for example, both SARS-CoV-2 and influenza at least triple the risk of heart attacks. [7] The effects of viruses have been missed, overlooked, and minimised, leading to a culture of indifference and ignorance surrounding the impacts of catching regular viruses, including in healthcare settings and a reluctance to change following the ever-growing body of research that shows viruses can cause more significant harm than first thought. 

We strongly believe that every person in Aotearoa New Zealand has a right to access safe healthcare without the risk of catching a deadly or disabling virus. This falls under our legal right to health, including access to timely and appropriate healthcare. Additionally, every healthcare worker has the right to a safe workplace and working conditions that support them to stay home when sick. [8] Treating airborne infection as a matter of “personal responsibility” violates these rights and undermines public trust.
Critically, for the best prevention possible, fit-tested respirator masks (N95/FFP2 and N100/FFP3) must become the standard in all health care settings. Surgical masks are proven not to be effective against aerosolised respiratory viruses. [9] According to the British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS), it is a breach of health and safety standards to claim that surgical masks protect against inhaled hazards. 

Like sterile surgical gloves or seatbelts, respirators and ventilation are proven life-saving norms —not restrictions on freedom, but tools that enable freedom through safety.

We respectfully urge the Ministry of Health Manatū Hauora, Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand and the government and other regulatory bodies in charge of these regulations to implement the following evidence-based protections:

1. Use proven mitigations to prevent the spread of respiratory and other aerosol viruses at all times. 

2. The return of mandatory protections for aerosolised viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 at all times, not just during a known ward outbreak, in all clinical spaces. Including visitors, staff and patients (where medically possible).

3. Respirators, i.e N95's or equivalent, not surgical masks, are to be used as the default mask practice (this is because surgical masks are not PPE for respiratory viruses.) 

4. Paid sick leave and safer staffing levels so infected staff can stay home until they are no longer infectious and are well enough to safely perform their duties.

5. Return to regular COVID testing in emergency departments and wards. Including the numbers of patients and staff catching viruses like COVID-19 in hospitals, and nationally, the number of Long Covid cases and associated pathologies. 

6. Mechanical ventilation and HEPA filtration in all patient-care spaces, operated at all times rather than reactively and ensure safe CO2 levels in each space.

7. Education on the importance of masking, different types of masks, their effectiveness and the proven damaging effects of COVID-19 infections. This information needs to be shared regularly with the public.

8. Increase funding, clinical care and community support for Long Covid and associated pathologies such as ME/CFS, POTS, Cognitive issues and more. 

(Please read the full letter for all details and recommendations)

Health is a collective responsibility. Allowing uncontrolled viral spread threatens not only individual lives but the sustainability of the entire health system. By restoring clean-air standards and airborne viral protection, Aotearoa can once again lead the world in compassionate, science-based public health. A final note to anyone in healthcare, you do not need to wait for another mandate to start masking with the best tools we have to protect yourself and patients and the community today. 

Thank you!

Links

Campaign Website

Updates

2025-12-02 16:31:34 +1300

25 signatures reached

2025-12-02 15:43:12 +1300

10 signatures reached