Hospitality businesses are upset that the Government’s relaxation of Covid-19 health measures does not go far enough.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today announced the Government would lift vaccine mandates for a number of sectors including teaching and police from April 4 as the current Omicron outbreak nears its peak.
Vaccine passes would also no longer be mandatory to visit restaurants, coffee shops and other public spaces.
Hospitality NZ said while the end to mandates for staff and vaccine passes for customers is welcome news for its sector, increasing the capacity cap to 200 for indoor settings will make little difference for larger venues.
“Why 200? It’s nonsensical,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
“The cap should be pinned to the capacity of the venue. Lifting it will not work for bars and other night venues. The seated model does not work for them, even with a higher cap.”
It said these businesses have higher labour costs to police the existing public health measures, and have been among the worst affected by the two-year-long pandemic with no extra support from the Government.
“Businesses are running out of patience.”
It accused the Government of haphazard planning, and was unhappy that some changes would not take effect until April 4.
The criticism was echoed by Heart of the City, which represents Auckland businesses.
It wanted a move away from the red traffic light setting (which will be retained until at least April 4).
Without this, there would no major indoor events; bars and nightclubs would not operate properly, and workers would not return in great numbers to the CBD.
Chief executive Viv Beck said: “Changes announced today will make a difference – but confirmation of a shift away from red would have made a major difference for planning and confidence amongst our businesses.”
She is pushing for targeted wage subsidies to support some businesses.
However, the changes are being welcomed by the events sector.
Business Events Industry Aotearoa chief executive Lisa Hopkins said the reduction of restrictions is a further move in the right direction after the border reopening was announced last week.
She said confidence has been at an all-time low since attendance at indoor events was capped at 100 people in August last year.
Hopkins said organisers of up to 100 international conferences and events are waiting to confirm bookings for New Zealand.
“Event organisers in Australia are telling us they want to bring their client business back to New Zealand.
“The positive messages from the Prime Minister today will now drive a sense of surety as we work towards fewer restrictions.”
Act unimpressed
Act leader David Seymour accused Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of feeding “the fear factory” with today’s announcement.
“We’ve done the mahi, but we have to wait for visitors to arrive to get the treats. Waiting until 5 April for vaccine passes and mandates to go makes no sense. They should go immediately.”
He also criticised the 200-seat capacity for indoor settings, which would provide little relief for hospitality venues.
“New Zealanders are fed up. It’s time to move on. The traffic light system should go. We don’t need small tweaks; we need real change.”
National’s Covid-19 spokesman Chris Bishop welcomed the announcement, saying the Government had “finally caught up with reality”, but said the end of vaccine passes called into question the relevance of the traffic light system.
“The Government would be better to ditch the whole thing and create some simple rules around masks and perhaps venue limits, rather than persist with a complicated colour-code system that has never been used properly and that barely anyone understands.”
It should also signal a timeline for abolishing the remaining mandates, he said.
“After two tough years, it’s time to get back to normality and start thinking positively about the future.”
– additional reporting by Reuters
