Covid Watch

At last count, Auckland’s bleeding hospitality sector has haemorrhaged nearly three hundred million dollars since Delta came to town.
That’s just Auckland alone, according to Infometrics.
And the clamour to rescue the sector from complete carnage and resuscitate it is intensifying.
There’s still no resolution on allowing hospo to expand their outdoor dining footprint.
There’s still no action on changing up the resurgence payments from a three weekly pay cycle to weekly.
The inertia by Wellington and the intransigence to help save business from buckling is atrocious.
Why is it that so many questions to the Beehive, so many requests or pleas for action are met with the same blank response.
We will look into this. We are looking into this. We are still looking into this.
The Beehive must be transforming into the Hall of Mirrors. A lot of looking. But where’s the practical action?
Step Three in the Road Map can’t come soon enough to save Auckland’s hospo scene. But just what it will take to reach Step Three is anyone’s guess. There is no clear, coherent signposts, or measurements to benchmark.
Does the Government really get it? The desperation? Do they truly have a grasp on the burn businesses are feeling, and the despair at the lack of clarity?
I’m totally onboard with vaccine certificates, and they will embolden businesses.
They will help expedite a quick rebound. But that’s if they can ride out the current storm of lockdown. How many weeks can many of them hang in there?
Pragmatic solutions must be unlocked to tide them over. And one of the best ideas for immediate interim relief, has come from ACT.
David Seymour says if Aucklanders are allowed to have picnic in parks with food bought from supermarkets, then the Beehive should also allow restaurants to open for alfresco dining.
Let restaurants who have an outside dining option open to seated customers. How could you possibly argue with that?

The business sector appears to have turned sour against the Government.  
The Herald's Mood of the Boardroom is out this morning - and last year the CEOs of our biggest and best companies gave the Government good marks for leadership. 
But this year, the honeymoon is well and truly over for Jacinda Ardern and the Government. 
The big issues? A skills shortage like we have never seen, and no timeframe around when our borders are going to open.  
CEO of Sanford Peter Reidie joined Mike Yardley. 
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Great to see the TV news last night, and clips of Auckland people so relieved to get out into the park and meet a few friends. 
Ordinary, working people finally getting permission to enjoy a sniff of normality. 
And for the most part, they're diligently doing all the right things; wearing their masks and keeping their distance. 
Meanwhile, the outlaw element has apparently been carrying on as normal. 
Today we can confirm that the index case in the Hamilton outbreak is a drug deal dealer, with a long criminal history and gang affiliations. 
There are suggestions they crossed the Auckland boundary to buy drugs, and then delivered those drugs in the Waikato. 
Chris Hipkins has publicly confirmed that - quote - "quite a number" of people in the latest outbreak are gang members. 
So, while people who just want to get on with making an honest living and provide for their families suffer, people with a contempt for that way of life just carry on as they please. 
Naturally, we'll pick up the pieces, as we always do. 
We'll provide the healthcare and social support to people who actively undermine our society. 
And once we get them well again will they thank us? What do you think? 
I guess most of us have no dealing with the gangs; we know they're there and we don't like them, but they don't impact directly on us, so we grumble, and we kind of shrug it off. 
Maybe, if lockdown extensions, or worse, a return to tighter restrictions end up being sheeted home to gang activity, maybe that'll change. 
Maybe we'll actually demand some serious action.

The Government has confirmed "quite a number" of people in the latest outbreak are gang members. 
Public health expert Colin Tukuitonga told Mike Yardley it's now in everyone's interests to get as many gang members vaccinated as possible. 
"These are folk who don't necessarily believe or trust health officials and people who normally deal with them. We've got to try different ways to see if we can engage them." 
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Covid-19 has sneaked through the Auckland boundary. 
In Kawhia and Karapiro the finger's been pointed at outsiders sneaking to their holiday places. 
Some say the gangs have brought it in with their Methamphetamine deliveries. 
The mayor of Waipa Jim Mylchreest has called for all the North Island to go back at level 3 with Auckland. 
Immunologist Dr Dianne Sika Paotonu joined Tim Dower. 
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One real estate provider is offering people a sweet incentive to get vaccinated.  
Auckland's Urban Collective will give people a $10,000 discount on any apartment bought from them if you can prove you're double jabbed. 
The deal will last until December.  
Urban Collective Director Kelly McEwan told Mike Yardley it's already made an impact.  
"We've had quite strong enquiry, just from last night, and pretty strong hits on the website with people looking through." 
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Frustration from businesses that want to do more to help, during the Covid-19 crisis. 
The Herald's Mood of the Boardroom survey shows CEOs rate Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's ability to build confidence with business, a 1.97 out of five. 
Employers and Manufacturers' Association Chief Executive Brett O'Riley told Tim Dower businesses feel grumpy, sombre and frustrated. 
"And really looking to work much more closely with government to be part of the solution; rather than relying on daily press conferences to find out what's going." 
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Concern about how quickly Delta could spread around the country. 
Cases have been reported in Karāpiro and Kāwhia - well south of the Level Three border -- and a weak positive has been reported in Whangārei. 
One mayor is now calling for the entire upper North Island to be put back in Level Three -- while Wellington Mayor Andy Foster says it's only a matter of time until Covid spreads much further south. 
Auckland University epidemiologist Rod Jackson told Mike Yardley the Delta variant is proving very difficult to control. 
"Delta is like a human flamethrower in a forest; if you're vaccinated you're like a clean, green pine tree. If you're unvaccinated you're like an Aussie gumtree." 
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A PR expert says the Government needs to attract more people if they want to get vaccination rates up.  
Just over 20 percent of New Zealanders still haven't had a single dose of the vaccine.  
Pead PR chief executive Deborah Pead says the Government is making steps in the right direction with the national day of vaccination on October 16th.  
But she told Tim Dower certain groups have been demonised.  
"The enemy is not the anti-vaxxers, the enemy is Covid. And so they need a campaign that unites us against a common foe." 
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Very, very good news for the events industry in the Level 2 regions of the country.
The Government lifted the 100 person cap for seated events as long as spectators and eventgoers stay one metre apart at all times.
This means that all the weekend's games of the Bunnings NPC may be able to happen in front of spectators.
Sky Stadium CEO Shane Harmon told Heather du Plessis-Allan that this reduces their capacity to around 20 to 25 per cent.
"We expect at most venues we'll be able to manage NPC crowds comfortably in that environment. It would probably get a bit more challenging if that was the situation come Super Rugby."
Harmon said they are looking for more guidance on separating crowds, particularly if people go with family and friends.
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