The recent news that there were two community cases in New Zealand was another blow for the country and our industry.
One community case, in Auckland (Case D) has now been confirmed through genome sequencing to be linked to a previous case, known as Case A, the Defence worker who was infected at a quarantine hotel.
As a result of a link between the two case being established, all of New Zealand remains at Alert Level 1 and Auckland’s CBD will re-open.
Auckland businesses will be aware that the Government asked people who work in central Auckland to work from home on Friday 13th November if possible and this has a significant impact on our Auckland central businesses. Those that do have to work are recommended to wear masks and practice physical distancing. This means that any staff working on Friday 13th November in Auckland CBD businesses should be wearing masks and it would be advisable to consider reconfiguring your layout if possible to help maintain physical distancing requirements (almost like operating under a Level 2 layout).
While the Government has indicated people can return to the Auckland CBD, they are asking all New Zealanders to act with caution to reduce the risk of spread.
Feedback is that the majority of member businesses in the Auckland CBD are still open at this stage. We have prepared some guidance (below) on managing your teams. Many have indicated that while bookings are massively reduced for Friday, bookings are not too affected for Saturday night.
We’d like to let you know that we have priority Helpline assistance available for any of our Auckland Central member businesses calling today for support around this latest development. This support includes, employment advice, specialised PR / media assistance, legal advice, cleaning recommendations and more.
The latest cases demonstrate just how important it is that we continue to follow the guidelines for displaying QR posters, contact tracing and hygiene standards. Our industry is just about to move into its busiest period so a change of alert levels would be a bitter pill to swallow just as we are getting back on our feet again. But we are now very well prepared and our businesses know what they need to do to continue to operate safely and sustainably.
We will continue to update if there are further developments, however some key links and resources that you may find useful to familiarise yourself with include:
Hospitality Hub – the place where we hold all of our Covid-19 related advice, updates and information
COVID – 19 Media Survival Kit – to provide guidance to help you communicate with customers and the media if you are involved in a COVID-19 outbreak.
Guidance for dealing with a probable or confirmed Covid-19 case in the workplace – to help you prepare for this situation, covering advice on management for customers or staff that may have covid-19
Deep cleaning your premises following a confirmed or probable case of COVID-19
Updated COVID-19 Resources for CBD/Central Auckland businesses – Letter re temporarily closing the business and Letter re temporary variation of hours and Draft communications for your employees re CBD emergency
We are here to support and advocate for our members. If any of you need to talk to any of our team, call 0800 737 827.