Another Level 3 Lockdown was announced for the Auckland region on Saturday night, following an outbreak of the highly contagious UK variant of COVID, which involved infectious patients who refused to stay in isolation.
Here are the latest updates for industry members.
1. From the Ministry for Primary Industries and the Ministry of Transport – a message from Ray Smith, Director General, Ministry for Primary Industries:
The Prime Minister announced that Auckland will move to Alert Level 3 from 6am, Sunday February 28, and the rest of the country will move to Alert Level 2.
The Alert Levels will initially be in place for a period of seven days while further investigations are conducted.
The primary sector can continue to operate at both levels 2 and 3. Businesses and workers need to comply with the Government’s COVID-19 alert level settings and observe any protocols for their particular industry. For more information please see here..
An Alert Level boundary will be in place around Auckland. Many primary sector businesses will be able to travel across the Alert Level boundary. These include businesses involved in:
· primary processing, production and supply of food and drink. It also includes businesses involved in the production of packaging for the products of primary production for food or drink and all businesses transporting freight.
· veterinary and animal health and welfare services, but only if travel between Alert Level areas is necessary to enable the service to be provided and not providing the service would result in animal welfare concerns.
Please note, forestry and wood processing can operate within the alert level boundaries, but they will have to apply for an exemption to travel across the alert level boundary unless they are involved in packaging for food and drink. Note that forestry and wood processing freight can cross the border, but not employees going to work.
More information about permitted activities, exemptions and travel across Alert Level boundaries can be found here on the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment’s (MBIE) website.
MBIE has developed a Business Travel Register (see here) to enable businesses and organisations to request travel documents: either for permitted activities or, if required, to seek an exemption to travel from the Director-General of Health if your business activity does not appear on the permitted activities referred to above.
The Business Travel Register will generate Business Travel Documents for workers to display at checkpoints. This includes a QR code, which enables Police at the cordon to verify the document digitally against the travel register. It is important that today you register your businesses for travel.
If you requested and received Business Travel Documents during the Alert Level 3 in Auckland earlier this month, or received an exemption, you can use those documents and do not need to apply again.
Thank you for your perseverance and commitment to continue operating while keeping your staff and New Zealanders safe from COVID-19.
2. Message from Ministry of Transport
The boundary between the alert level areas will be reinstated and the previous restrictions and requirements apply.
All previous business travel documents (acquired through the MBIE website for permitted activities and exemptions) remain valid so you will be able to use them again.
If you need to register your agency’s workers/help your stakeholders understand how to register:
Information on travel for business purposes is available at – https://www.business.govt.nz/covid-19/business-travel-across-alert-level-boundaries .
The first video link under the AL2_3 border- youtube link doc provides instructions on how to undertake registration.
3. From Foodstuffs
Supermarkets have swung into action and keep working hard to provide New Zealand with the essential groceries they require. As in previous lockdowns, supermarkets will remain open in order to meet the needs of New Zealanders.
“Our focus continues to be the health and safety of our teams and customers, and ensuring every New Zealander has access to grocery essentials,” says Chris Quin, CEO of Foodstuffs North Island. “I want to let our customers know that we continue to have heightened best practice hygiene and cleaning protocols in store, and we are working very closely with our supplier partners to meet customers’ needs.”
Customers will recall the move to Alert Level 3 will result in changes to how our stores operate. Please remember the following:
• Scan the COVID-19 QR codes – download the NZ COVID-19 Tracer App and scan the QR Code at stores to enable quick contact tracing if needed and turn on Bluetooth tracing.
• Nominate a family member to shop if you live in the wider Auckland area – to comply with physical distancing recommendations, and to ensure there is a steady flow of traffic in and out of stores within our ‘one in, one out’ system, we are asking New Zealanders who shop in person to please shop alone. This is to ensure the number of people in-store at any one time is kept to a minimum – by leaving your loved ones at home you are helping keep them safe.
• Wear masks while shopping – in line with Government’s direction, we encourage all customers to wear face masks when visiting our stores, especially in the wider Auckland area.
• Use contactless payments – we encourage customers to use contactless payments such as payWave as another way of reducing contact between customers and staff. Help us keep you safe.
• Shop online (where available) – we have contactless online shopping delivery for customers who are self-isolating, vulnerable or unwell – we ask customers simply to let the team know in the comments section when the order is placed. We also ask customers who are feeling unwell to please not come to the store to collect their Click & Collect order and to instead arrange a friend or family member to pick up your groceries for you.
• #shopnormal – we continue to ask customers to not stockpile; this is so everyone has a fair shot at buying their grocery essentials. Please only buy what you need and be fair to others. We have plenty of stock, and to ensure there is plenty of product to go around, product limitations may be put in place on a store or product basis if the individual store determines there is a need.
• Be kind – we are asking New Zealand to again support us as we work hard to continue meeting our goal of ensuring everyone has access to grocery essentials. We ask that all customers please remain patient and considerate to each other and staff during this time.
Customers will once again see various staff protection measures in place at their local store including staff wearing masks, perspex protective screens at checkout, and floor decals communicating the appropriate 2-metre physical distancing length. We ask all customers to please comply with store signage and staff direction to maintain physical distancing.
“Our ask of customers is to please, play your part and follow the rules,” says Quin. “The fight against Covid-19 is ever-changing, and we promise to continue doing all we can to keep our people and customers safe,” says Quin. “Our shared goal of stamping out Covid-19 remains, and I want to thank our customers for their kindness and patience on this journey. I also want to express sincere gratitude to our teams for once again stepping up and putting other New Zealanders’ needs ahead of their own.”
