Covid-19 'Taking care in the air' pack

‘Taking care in the air’ packages like this one, containing a face mask and a hand sanitiser wipe, were available to passengers as they boarded Air New Zealand flights during the Covid-19 pandemic. Face masks were mandatory on Air New Zealand flights from November 2020 until September 2022. The front of the package gives instructions on how to fit a mask effectively and dispose of it safely.

Public transport was considered a high-risk setting throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, as it brought people into close contact in a confined space, and passengers didn’t know the other people travelling with them. A number of safety restrictions were enforced on public transport at various times throughout the pandemic, such as limiting the number of passengers to allow for social distancing, making masks mandatory, and requiring domestic passengers on planes to be vaccinated or show a negative Covid-19 test (from December 2021 to April 2022).

References

• Air New Zealand, 2021. ‘Slip, slop, jab or swab your way to fly this summer.’ Media Release, 9 November.
• Air New Zealand, 2022. ‘Air New Zealand adjusts travel requirements for orange traffic light setting.’ Media Release, 13 April.
• Downes, Siobhan, 2022. ‘Australia is getting rid of face masks on flights. Will NZ do the same?’ Radio New Zealand, 1 September. 
• RNZ, 2022. ‘Covid-19: Government made ‘mistake’ dropping mask mandates on public transport – epidemiologist.’ Newshub, 12 September.