Mask-wearing at orange was largely consistent with red - the only notable changes were they were no longer required at hospitality venues and close-contact businesses like hairdressers and beauty salons.
Covid-19 Response minister Chris Hipkins today said changes had also been made to mask-wearing at schools with specific guidance communicated to suit their circumstances.
Masks were still necessary aboard domestic flights, on public transport, inside retail businesses like supermarkets, shopping malls, pharmacies and petrol stations, among others.
Those considered to be exempt from mask-wearing - primarily people with a physical or mental health illness or condition or disability that made wearing a face mask unsuitable - were entitled to travel and shop without a mask, according to the Ministry of Health.
However, the NZ Herald has featured multiple stories of people exempt from wearing a mask being refused entry into some businesses.
Mask use has become a natural part of life since 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic hit New Zealand. Photo / Alex Burton
Some people resorted to carrying a mask exemption document, endorsed by the ministry, but it made little difference in cases where businesses dismissed the exemptions - some in fear of people abusing the process.
Under the Covid-19 Public Health Response Order, it was not necessary for someone to present an exemption document as proof.
On exemptions, Hipkins said an announcement on how the system would be made easier for both those exempt from mask-wearing and businesses would be made in the coming weeks.
"I acknowledge some of the disability community have found the existing system quite traumatic as well," he said.
Tamahere resident Danielle Schaad was one of thousands of Kiwis who were lawfully exempt from wearing a mask, as a result of her post-traumatic stress disorder.
Since 2020, Schaad has had many uncomfortable, sometimes threatening, experiences with staff who would refuse to serve her because she wasn't wearing a mask.
Danielle Schaad, 45, wears her mask exemption document around her neck on a lanyard. Photo / Supplied
Among the worst was while visiting a BP service station in Cambridge to buy chocolate milk for her son.
"[The staff member] said, 'We don't need the likes of you here, go outside and we will fix you at the night window'," Schaad said.
Knowing she was exempt, the 45-year-old stood her ground until the situation became confrontational and she left, shaking and upset.
The incident was consistent with other businesses that had reportedly either refused Schaad service or required to see an exemption document before allowing entry.
A few weeks ago at Life Pharmacy in Hamilton, Schaad claimed she was told to leave by a staff member and was later advised she could wait outside where she may be served.
At the Wittner shoe store in Wellington, Schaad was informed she must leave the shop without a mask, even after presenting her exemption.
At The Warehouse in Cambridge, Schaad was reportedly stopped from entering until a staffer sighted her exemption, who later stated he was still able to prevent her entry even with an exemption.
Danielle Schaad said she had to wait outside a VTNZ while her car was seen to because she wasn't wearing a mask. Photo / Paul Taylor
At VTNZ, Schaad had to wait outside while her vehicle was seen to as she didn't have a mask.
At ANZ in Cambridge, her exemption was asked for before Schaad was served.
Those incidents were in addition to the many instances of heckling or abuse Schaad had fielded from members of the public for not wearing a mask.
"It has just been a couple of years worth of battle that nobody needs at a time like this," Schaad said.
The Hamilton Life Pharmacy referred the Herald to the Pharmacy Guild of New Zealand for its position.
Guild chief executive Andrew Gaudin said pharmacies had been advised to make their own decisions on how to provide services to people exempt from mask-wearing.
"If a pharmacy declines entry to a customer without a mask, they must offer them alternative contactless services with the same level of clinical care and service as is reasonable/possible to those who can enter the pharmacy."
In response to a complaint lodged by Schaad, a Wittner representative apologised for the interaction but stated staff were able to refuse entry to "respect their own health and safety".
It's understood at the time of Schaad's visit, the Wellington store had implemented a temporary policy preventing anyone without a mask into the store after a number of people participating in the Parliament protest had come in with fake exemptions.
A spokesperson from The Warehouse acknowledged the Government did not require people to provide proof of an exemption document, but said anyone not wearing a mask would be asked if they had an exemption.
A spokesperson from The Warehouse said anyone coming into a store would be asked why they weren't wearing a mask. Photo / Jason Oxenham
VTNZ's mask policy prevented anyone from entering a branch without a mask with no exceptions.
An ANZ spokesperson indicated people exempt from mask-wearing were accepted in their branches and repeated the Ministry of Health's guideline that exemptions could be useful to explain why they weren't wearing one.
The spokesperson also apologised to Schaad for any stress or inconvenience caused during her visit.
The Disabled Persons Assembly (DPA) was one of a small number of national disabled people's groups that were tasked by the Ministry of Health to distribute mask exemptions.
In March, the Herald revealed the DPA would stop sending out exemptions due to the issues experienced by Kiwis like Schaad.
"... it is increasingly referred to, or demanded to be seen, as 'proof' of exemption," DPA chief executive Prudence Walker said last month.
"The card was never designed to be used in this way, and the existence of the card appears now to be adding to the widespread misunderstanding of the fact that face-covering exemptions exist in the public health order and no proof is required."
Speaking to the Herald on Wednesday, Walker suspected any change to the exemption process would focus on the exemption document.
This could involve people needing to provide further proof of their exemption before being granted a more legitimate exemption document that was accepted by businesses.
Walker said the obvious flaw with this solution was that it demanded people reveal intimate details about themselves.
In the past, Walker had called for more public education from the Government on the issue, but doubted what impact that would have now.
"If, right from start, the messaging was, 'We should all wear masks', but also acknowledged not everyone could then I'm pretty sure that we'd be in a different situation."
