New Zealand hospitality and tourism industries face the impact of a sudden seven day lockdown that came into force at 6 am today (February 28). The Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern announced that Auckland would move to Level 3 and the rest of the country to Level 2, at a mid evening press conference on Saturday.
The announcement of a return to levels 2 and 3, is a major blow for an industry already struggling for survival says Restaurant Association CEO Marisa Bidois.
“This is another major blow for our industry which is already struggling to recover from the compounded impact of changes to alert levels and border closures. With borders closed, our revenues continue to suffer and these changes of alert levels are incredibly difficult to manage.
“Sunday is a big day for hospo and our businesses will have stocked up on food for the days ahead incurring wastage costs on top of significantly reduced revenues. Whilst it’s good to see that the wage subsidy has been confirmed this time, we cannot stress enough the urgent need for the government to respond with a tailored financial package for our industry.”
As the industry scrambles to rearrange work operations, food orders and staff wellbeing Hospitality Business provides a reminder of the guidelines for working at these Alert Levels.
General principles for operating at Level 3
- Businesses must take health measures to keep their workers safe – maintain physical distance between workers, recording who is working together, limiting interaction between groups of workers, disinfecting surfaces, and maintaining high hygiene standards.
- Hospitality businesses can operate under Alert Level 3 for contactless delivery and pick-up (including drive-through) of pre-prepared food and beverages. Customers cannot enter your premises.
- People are still instructed to stay home unless for essential personal movement. Essential personal movement is for activities such as accessing local services and businesses, recreation or work and school.
Level 3 Guidelines (Auckland only)
Other than essential services, businesses cannot offer services that involve close physical contact. This means that most tourism activity operations are unlikely to be able to open.
Level 2 Guidelines
Financial support is available
Resurgence Support Payment
The Resurgence Support Payment will be available for businesses affected by the Alert Level change. The Resurgence Support Payment is a payment to help support viable and ongoing business or organisations due to a COVID-19 alert level increase to level 2 or higher. If your business or organisation is facing a reduction in income due to an alert level increase, you may be eligible. Find out more.
COVID-19 Short-term Absence Payment
The COVID-19 Short-Term Absence Payment is available for businesses, including self-employed people, to help pay their workers who cannot work from home while they wait for a COVID-19 test result. Find out more.
Healthline
If you need health advice, please contact Healthline on 0800 611 116.
More information
All official government information about the latest case and its development can be found here. Locations of interest can be found here.
Alert level operational guidelines for hospitality businesses are also available via the Restaurant Association of New Zealand’s website: – www.restaurantnz.co.nz. and Tourism Industry Aotearoa’s (TIA) site: https://www.tia.org.nz/assets/Accommodation-Guidlines-for-Alert-level-3-v2.pdf (tia.org.nz).
