A move to Phase 3 of the Government’s Omicron response would be good news for the hospitality industry, as it will allow staff to keep working, and customers enjoy getting out.
Hospitality NZ CEO Julie White says pressure is on for the shift, as the definition of a close contact and a week-long isolation period is keeping mounting numbers of staff and customers unnecessarily at home.
"The rules are having a devastating multiplier effect, turning the thousands of people with COVID into tens of thousands of well or asymptomatic people stuck at home.
"The rules are unsustainable with rapid spread of Omicron because they are making up to 100 per cent of staff ineligible to work and exacerbating already low numbers of staff."
The sector had very recently been allowed to work out its own definitions of close contacts on a case by case basis. Julie says while a Phase shift is welcome, it is only one of the tools for recovery.
Another tool is financial support to get through the Omicron wave, and the narrow eligibility of the package announced on Monday still needs to be fixed.
"After our urgent objections, we are now cautiously optimistic that the Government did not intend to restrict the eligibility so tightly and will fix it by the time applications open this Monday," she says.
The Restaurant Association says while the move to Phase 3 is a step in the right direction there’s still work to be done to slow down the rate of business interruption.
"This week alone a large number of our businesses are having to close their doors as a result of staff becoming close contacts of Omicron cases," says Restaurant Association CEO Marisa Bidois.
"Whilst the move to Phase 3 is certainly helpful we are also aware that our industry employs a large number of younger people, many of whom are living in flatting situations and larger households.
"This means the chances of them becoming household contacts of positive cases is greater. Given this is a workforce that cannot work from home, the ability to be able to test to work has never been more important.
"We would like to see access the critical worker exemption which will allow employees who are testing negative to return to work extended more industries including hospitality."
