- By Nathan Limm
East Auckland operators are barely staying afloat in Covid-19 alert level three and owners are begging for help.
A Howick bar owner says Covid-19 alert level three has been anything but the welcome relief his business needs.
Auckland’s drop in restrictions overnight on September 21 has allowed local operators to resume contactless service.
But the owner of The Good Home has been unable to reopen his bar and restaurant as it is not set up for takeaways.
Barry O’Shaughnessy says he has worked in Howick for 28 years and his business is barely surviving.
“You pour your heart and soul into it and it’s tough to keep afloat at the moment. If I could afford to buy a beer, I’d be crying in it.”
O’Shaughnessy says even if they could reopen, it would be futile.
“It might help a little bit with cash flow but at the end of the month, there’s no money left.”
Judith Eager, owner of the Shamrock Cottage Cafe, says the bounce-back in business since the drop in alert levels has been muted.
“This time around there’s a different atmosphere. When we moved into level three, we had a huge surge of people coming out and that felt great. But it petered out as the week went on.”
A drop to ‘delta level two’ would allow businesses 50 socially-distanced customers on-site.
But O’Shaunessy says he would still be losing money if The Good Home reopened.
Under alert levels three and four, the Government has provided a wage subsidy for businesses suffering at least a 40 per cent loss in revenue over 14 days due to Covid-19.
But Eager says the maximum $565 she receives per employee is not enough to cover a 40-hour work week at minimum wage.
“You’ve got to make it up to at least 80 per cent, then holiday pay and ACC. I’m very grateful to receive it but it doesn’t meet the costs when you’re not getting any income.”
O’Shaughnessy says he should be able to survive as long as the wage subsidy continues, but it cannot stop there.
“We need to keep it happening in level two and even the first week or two in level one. We’ll never catch up but it would help to try and stay liquid.”
Eager and O’Shaughnessy agree vaccination is the best way of getting businesses back on their feet.
The Shamrock Cottage owner says reopening without a high immunisation rate is risky.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the Government will not make vaccination mandatory.
But Eager says it is unfair for businesses to police the immunisation of their customers.
“They have to come up with better solutions. If we do open and there aren’t enough people vaccinated, no one wants to be a super-spreader location.”
It comes as Auckland recorded 45 cases of Covid-19 in the community last Wednesday, with 12 unlinked to the current outbreak.
Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield says 33 had been isolating for their entire infectious period.
The August community cluster has risen to 1230 total cases.
- Nathan Limm is a 20-year-old student in the third year of his journalism degree. He has grown up and done all his schooling in Howick, most recently attending Howick College. He is currently working as a sports journalist with Newstalk ZB.
