Bars ‘gutted’ they have to wait week
Bars will have to wait for one more week after the start of alert level 2 to open as they pose ‘‘the most risk’’, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says.
But a Wellington bar owner says that delay could be the final nail in the coffin for many.
Ardern has announced the Government’s decision to move to level 2 from Thursday. However, bars would not reopen until Thursday, May 21.
‘‘We have left bars till last because they do pose the most risk,’’ Ardern said.
She pointed to South Korea, which reported a spike in new Covid cases linked to nightclubs.
Ardern said the definition of a bar was a place where the primary purpose was for drinking. This meant pubs that provided meals could be considered restaurants, and would be able to open earlier.
Restaurants and bars would not be able to take group bookings of more than 10 people.
‘‘This alongside social distancing is our insurance policy,’’
Ardern said yesterday.
Hospitality New Zealand Wellington branch president Matt McLaughlin, who owns the Danger Danger and Panhead bars, said the announcement had come as a ‘‘really disappointing surprise’’ for bar owners.
‘‘As an industry, we’re gutted . . . we were pushed to the very back of the queue.’’
McLaughlin said while they weren’t health experts, Hospitality
New Zealand had been working with the Government around how they could create safe environments and provided options as to how they would be able to manage their premises safely.
‘‘It looks like they’re not taking those into account, and they’re pushing it out even further, that’s really disappointing.
‘‘There’s 170,000 people employed in the hospitality industry in New Zealand, and we’re forecasting up to 40 per cent of those jobs will go.
‘‘Every day we’re shut makes things more and more difficult. To be closed for another 10 days . . . I just don’t know how some places are going to survive.’’
McLaughlin said the industry was not feeling ‘‘any love’’.
‘‘It was also disappointing to hear the prime minister say she’s worked with the hospitality association to come up with these guidelines and that’s not true at all. We were told about the rules about an hour before.’’
However, a spokesperson for minister of commerce and consumer affairs Kris Faafoi, said ‘‘the national representatives of the Hospitality Association and Restaurant Association have been involved in discussions”.