Unvaccinated staff at two Queenstown skifields will be stopped from coming to work as health officials fight to stop the spread of measles through the resort's community.
Eight new cases of measles in the area were confirmed at the weekend, taking the total number of those infected to 15.
Six of the new cases were NZ Ski staff working at the Remarkables skifield and the remaining two were primary school-aged children.
At least 11 NZSki staff had now tested positive for the virus, which had spread into the wider Queenstown area, in the past month.
It has now spread to the Remarkables Primary School and the Queenstown Lakes District Emergency Department.
NZ Ski chief executive Paul Anderson said a decision had been made yesterday to stop any staff who remained unvaccinated against the disease from working at the Remarkables or Coronet Peak ski areas.
Any staff who exhibited symptoms would also be stood down from work immediately, Mr Anderson said.
In the past week more than 500 staff had been vaccinated or received booster shots and the decision would affect a very small number, he said.
"A lot of our staff are from overseas and it can be very hard for them to find their medical records, so the best way to protect themselves and others from the virus was just to receive the vaccination."
A small number who had not been working in the past week would be vaccinated this week.
Mr Anderson said the public could be confident when visiting either of the two ski areas.
A Southern District Health Board spokeswoman said there had been no additional confirmed cases yesterday. More test results were expected today.
The SDHB has urged residents in the Queenstown area to check their immunisation records.
Those who were unsure should assume they were unvaccinated and call their GP to find out the best time to be vaccinated.
Extra vaccinations did not cause any harm.
More than 1000 cases have been confirmed in New Zealand this year, 881 of them in the Auckland region.
