‘Turbulent’ time for business

Some Marlborough businesses given the green light to operate under alert level 3 are unsure whether they will be able to comply with the social distancing rules.

Businesses are awaiting the Government’s announcement today whether it will end four weeks of coronavirus lockdown.

Director-general of Health Ashley Bloomfield announced nine new cases yesterday, four confirmed cases and five suspected cases.

That brings New Zealand’s total number of cases to 1431, 912 of whom have recovered. There have been 12 deaths.

There have been no new cases announced in Nelson or Marlborough since April 9. Of the 48 cases in the region, the health board said 21 confirmed and six probable cases were in Nelson and 12 confirmed and nine probable cases in Marlborough.

When the country moves to Covid-19 alert level 3, hospitality businesses will be able to reopen to offer takeaways and deliveries, as long as they are contactless and do not involve face-to-face customer service.

Cilantro owner Srikanth Pochampally said he might be able to open his Blenheim takeaway shop under alert level three, but he would rather stay locked down than open while the level of risk still required strict social distancing rules.

‘‘I’m not really sure how we can cope ... a small provider like me. I can’t even buy sanitiser anywhere in the supermarket. I’ve been dealing with a few suppliers and none of them have sanitisers.’’

Pochampally had a six-monthold boy and was his family’s only source of income. He wanted to go back to work, but he also did not want to risk catching the virus and transmitting it back to his family.

Forestry would be able to restart under alert level 3, but Marlborough Forest Industry Association executive officer Vern

Harris said he did not know if they would be able to harvest while adhering to Government rules.

They were having discussions to work through ‘‘how we might be able to operate’’, he said.

‘‘Some harvesting companies may decide they won’t. My understanding is most of them probably feel like they should, but they need to work through a process to make sure that they can comply with the level 3 rules.’’

The forestry industry began to feel the affects of the global pandemic weeks before the rest of New Zealand went into lockdown, when Chinese markets began to shut down, but it would be able to restart under alert level 3.

Harris understood a ‘‘very high percentage’’ of forest companies and contractors applied for and received the Government wage subsidy.

‘‘In the short to medium term that holds the workforce intact. I’m sure that most of them will be waiting for the call to go back to work.’’

Construction will be allowed to resume under level 3, with some new restrictions on site.

Robinson Construction owner Phil Robinson said they had started having conversations about what level 3 would mean for business and how they would go about ‘‘restarting’’ each of the companies.

They were looking at what measures they would need to have in place to adhere to Government guidelines, he said.

‘‘It would be great news to get back up and trading again by the end of the four weeks.’’

But it would require a ‘‘bit of learning’’ by everyone and potentially resourcing of protective equipment and the likes, he said.

Home services, like tradespeople for repairs or installations, could be delivered if safe to do so.

Marlborough Chamber of Commerce chief executive Hans Neilson said ‘‘all eyes’’ were on the announcement as to ‘‘what exactly level 3 means’’.

Marlborough’s economy was made up of lots of small businesses and ‘‘mum and dad operators’’ who were facing a ‘‘turbulent period of uncertainty’’, he said.

‘‘Uncertainty is always the villain of business growth because it makes it hard to make decisions.’’