In either case, additional government support would be welcome
Christchurch, August 24, 2021
Businesses in the lower South Island are calling for greater certainty than the current drip-fed approach to lockdowns allows.
Some of them have said that they would have preferred a longer lockdown, signalled right from the start.
When Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern informed the country of the potential emergence of the Delta variant last Tuesday (August 17, 2021), she said that a short, sharp lockdown was needed to combat it. But a week on, businesses say that it is anything but short, though they are feeling the sharp end of it.
Situation unsettling
Fiordland Community Board Chair Sarah Greaney, who is also a business owner, said that the drip-fed lockdown had been unsettling for businesses in the area.
“We would rather do a longer lockdown and do it in one hit, rather than being in and out of lockdowns or with continued uncertainty. Sometimes I don’t think that the central government really understands what they do to people on the ground running small businesses, or even larger businesses when they have a more haphazard approach to things,” she said.
The uncertainty surrounding the length of the lockdown means that business owners faced stressful decisions around whether to take the support available, such as the wage subsidy.
“Many of them will need to access that wage subsidy immediately, but they would not want the complications of having to pay it back if we’re not in lockdown for a fortnight. So, give us some certainty, give us some clarity and do not put additional pressure on to businesses – that’s just going to make things more stressful,” Ms Greaney said.
Logistical concerns
Business South Chief Executive Mike Collins said that feelings were mixed about whether a longer lockdown, signalled right from the start, would have worked better.
But many bigger businesses, with greater logistical concerns, were voicing that view.
“There is some frustration from some organisations around the concept becoming kind of drip-fed releases of how the lockdown might take. That is having an impact and causing a bit of frustration for businesses and I have talked to some organisations that would’ve preferred ‘Let’s just take a hit, if it’s going to be two weeks then let’s make that call-up front’ so they can plan,” he said.
The shorter lockdown periods had given some false hope and they were now on the edge of their seats for Friday (August 27, 2021), when the government will announce whether parts of the country, outside of Auckland, would move alert levels.
Changing alert levels
With no Covid-19 cases identified in the South Island during the current outbreak, many believe that it was time for a drop in levels in the south.
Queenstown Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Ruth Stokes said that she saw no reason why the South Island would not be able to begin moving down the alert levels if no cases showed up by Friday.
“Come Friday night, they are going to have a much more certain picture. We know that they are doing all the wastewater testing, we know there is only a handful of people who are self-isolating in the South Island. So, we will know one way or the other whether it is got out here or not,” she said.
Additional government support
If an alert level change did not eventuate businesses would be looking for more support from the government, she said.
“If we go beyond Friday for a level 4 extension what businesses are actually going to be looking for is some surety and some confidence around the financial support that’s available.
“The incremental financial support – the two weeks for the wage subsidy, the one week for the Covid resurgence payment – it is a tough ask for businesses like ours to work on a week-to-week, fortnight-to-fortnight basis,” Ms Stakes said.
Whatever the government decides on Friday, businesses in the south just want the Beehive to keep them in mind.
-Published under a Special Agreement with www.rnz.co.nz
