Fencing Combat Handbook
Face covering requirement for NZ marshals
To the best of our understanding (I haven't heard back from Ministry of Health about referees for martial arts), we believe that marshals in NZ trigger the requirement for wearing face coverings while inspecting combatants and marshalling combat due to close contact or the potential for it while assisting a combatant. This applies during red and orange traffic light settings of the COVID Protection Framework. This may not be practicable for marshalling war combat, or for combatants taking turns marshalling bouts while still fully armoured - so treat it as requiring the face covering if not wearing your helmet. It's a compliance issue rather than an actual mitigation from spreading COVID - taking part in combat is a far greater risk of spread!
Angele de Savigny, Earl Marshal