Keeping you up to date

Following the announcement by the New Zealand government that Auckland has moved to Alert Level 3, with the rest of New Zealand at Alert Level 2, we wanted to provide you with an update.

As the situation evolves, the changes to our operations will be reviewed and revisited depending on the guidance we receive from the Ministry of Health to take the right precautions.

Our focus will continue to be keeping the safety of our clients, our staff, and our operation as the top priorities.

What does this mean for current participants and clients of Hillary Outdoors?

HILLARY OUTDOORS TONGARIRO
Hillary Outdoors Tongariro is open for business and there is currently no reason for the current participants or upcoming clients to alter your plans to attend your upcoming programme until we have further information from the government.
At Alert Level 2 we can safety continue to operate our programmes with 100 people onsite. This includes our Tertiary programmes as well as our school and skills programmes. Participants will be reminded to continuously wash their hands and follow the government guidelines for health and safety.

HILLARY OUTDOORS GREAT BARRIER ISLAND
Hillary Outdoors Great Barrier Island is part of the Auckland Region and therefore has moved to Alert Level 3. Current students who are staying with us will be taken home by charter boat on Friday to avoid interaction with the general public. Our Centre Manager will be in touch with individual school groups next week once we have more information from the government.

HILLARY OUTDOORS EVENTS
The Hillary Outdoors nation-wide Events Programme is still operating this week at Alert Level 2, as long as we can safely host 100 people at our events. Should an event in your region have to be cancelled, Darren, our Events Manager will be in contact with you.

As a preventative measure, the following individuals may NOT attend a Hillary Outdoors Centre or Event if;
• you are unwell – even if you have very mild symptoms;
• you have a pre-existing respiratory illness, or if your immune system is compromised;
• you or a family member are in self-isolation;
• you have been in close contact with someone confirmed with or waiting to be confirmed with COVID-19 in the last 14 days; and i
• if you have been confirmed with COVID-19

This advice will be continually monitored as directives are provided from the government.

To date, here is a brief summary of our precautionary actions:
• Hillary Outdoors is implementing its Pandemic Plan for Alert Level 3 and 2;
• Our Centres have arranged additional cleaning for precautionary reasons only;
• Where applicable, our Centres are making sure that each school has their own sleeping accommodation, eating areas, and we have altered any programmed activities that need to be changed to minimise contact with individuals at the centres;
• Water, soap, and hand sanitiser stations are easily available at the Centres. We continue to promote the regular washing of hands with soap and water in the first instance. All staff at Hillary Outdoors staff have been briefed on how to practice good hygiene and will make it easy for all individuals to practice good hygiene;
• Our local Health Centres are providing advice and guidance to staff;
• Self-isolation rooms have been established at Tongariro, again as a precautionary measure;
• We have restrictions in place (as per above) for attending a programme at our Centres; and
• We continue to communicate with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education and act on their advice and guidance.

Should an individual present themselves as sick while at a Hillary Outdoors Tongariro or an Event, the Manager along with the teacher in charge will follow the usual process of initial diagnosis/treatment which could involve – in likely sequence:
• Check for indications of fever, flu like symptoms, coughing, difficulty breathing, or any combination of these symptoms;
• Isolate; and
• Contact Local Regional Public Health Unit for advice.

LOCAL REGIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH CENTRES

Sincerely,

The Hillary Outdoors Team