Surprise, disappointment at Govt decision

Some Southland businesses are frustrated ‘‘uncomfortable’’ mask rules will remain as the country stays in the orange traffic light setting.

Invercargill Licensing Trust chief executive Chris Ramsay said his raw reaction to the news was surprise and disappointment.

‘‘From everything we’re seeing and experiencing the public is behaving like we’re at level one . . . which is the equivalent to green,’’ he said.

He did not think it made sense for staff to be required to wear masks whilst working at events where hundreds of attendees were not.

‘‘It’s very uncomfortable for our staff,’’ he said.

The new re-infection rule would ‘‘not assist productivity levels’’, he said, as the trust was already dealing with staff sickness.

Gore Paper Plus owner and Gore Go Retail member Doug Grant said the difference in mask rules between hospitality and retail were ‘‘a bit crazy’’.

Under the orange traffic light setting, both customers and workers in retail settings need to wear masks, whilst in hospitality, only workers are required to wear masks.

‘‘Depending on the size of the shop, customers are generally not in the store for that long . . . people are in and out . . . in hospitality you can be there for hours.’’

It was ‘‘extremely quiet’’ in retail at the moment, and he had been hopeful that a green traffic light setting would bring people back out on the streets supporting local.

Les Sheikh Hair Design owner Richelle Holland said her team had made a decision prior to the Government’s announcement to keep masks in place whilst both the flu and Covid-19 were circulating in the community.

‘‘Whilst we do find the masks annoying, and would love to get out our coffees and magazines again, there is still a wee bit [of Covid-19] out there, and the flu – some people are saying that’s worse than Covid-19 . . . so for ourselves, we made the decision to keep them around a wee bit longer,’’ she said.

Close contact businesses such as hairdressers are still required to wear masks under the orange setting.

Holland was hopeful that in a ‘‘few months’’ the country would go to green as masks were uncomfortable for hairdressers, but was happy to continue under current settings until the flu season was over.