The Delta variant is a highly contagious Sars-CoV-2 virus strain. Video / Paul Slater
Tauranga and Western Bay business and community leaders fear the district could end up in the red with huge ramifications if not enough residents get double vaccinated in time.
On Monday Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the whole country would move to the traffic light system at 11.59pm on December2, providing a "pathway out of lockdown and give vaccinated New Zealanders more freedoms".
The colour each region will move into will be confirmed on November 29 - green, orange or red. The latter will involve greater restrictions and fewer freedoms.
The Government has already decided Auckland will move across into the red light setting and the Government will reveal more information for businesses this week.
Western Bay economic development agency Priority One chief executive Nigel Tutt thought the region would start in red.
"It looks like the Bay of Plenty will be in the red light until the end of the year at least."
Priority One chief executive Nigel Tutt. Photo / NZME
However, Tutt thought the system gave businesses more clarity on how they should operate.
"The transition will require some work – the system puts the responsibility on businesses to enforce mandates; particularly hospitality, retailers and events businesses.
"At the same time, businesses will need to prepare well for a different environment with cases in the local community - that might involve exposure events, restrictions and staff isolating."
Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Matt Cowley said he hoped the city entered the new framework at the orange status.
"But our relatively low vaccination level will likely mean we'll enter at red status. At least it will give businesses a few weeks to test systems before the Aucklanders start arriving on December 15.
"And the threat of hard lockdowns will disappear for those businesses which choose to require vaccine passes.
"Businesses that require vaccine passes need to police each entrance to ensure everyone has vaccine passes. This is an additional cost for businesses. Employers will need to have good communications with staff, customers and anyone else going onto the site, such as suppliers."
Cowley said dealing with difficult people at both extremes would be challenging for business owners.
Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Matt Cowley. Photo / NZME
"Some will say you've gone too far while the other extreme will complain that you haven't gone far enough. Employers need to read the Government's website on the latest information that sets out what steps are mandatory compared with what steps are only recommended."
As of the 1pm announcement on Tuesday, 88 per cent of the Bay of Plenty District Health Board's resident population had received their first dose and only 78 per cent were double vaccinated.
Meanwhile, policing customers vaccination passports was a concern for business owners.
Tauranga's Craft Bar & Kitchen (CBK) owner Billy Enemy said it was "very frustrating" as a hospitality business owner to be put in this position.
"It's been a hard few years and a hard slog just keeping the business operating and I don't want to have to take responsibility for checking whether people are vaccinated or not.
CBK restaurant and bar owner Billy Emeny. Photo / George Novak
"I don't think that is fair as I have enough pressure just living my life and running the business so I can support myself and my family. I don't need the added stress."
Emeny said he already had received backlash from some customers who made "unkind" comments in restaurant reviews about the enforcement of the Covid-19 rules.
"People need to be kind to hospitality businesses as we are just following the law which we are required to do like everyone else. And I definitely don't want to be made the scapegoat for new vaccination rules for just doing my job."
Lisa and Lindsay Chan are co-owners of the health and fitness business The Gym in First Avenue in Tauranga. Lisa Chan said they currently had 1700 members and if even if 10 per cent chose not to get doubled-vaccinated they risked losing about 170 clients.
"This would be a huge portion of our business and that would be devastating," she said.
Chan said she and her husband appreciated the reason for the introduction of the new traffic light system and currently they were in the process of contacting every client to share information they received from the Ministry of Health about it.
Lisa Chan, the co-owner of Tauranga business The Gym. Photo / NZME
"Some clients had been asking questions about the impact of the new system on them and it's vital as business owners that we are able to tell them.
"We have never been in this position before in the 17 years we've owned this business and it is very concerning that the goalposts keep changing in terms of the Covid rules."
Chan said the new traffic light system had added another level of uncertainty and stress and they urgently needed to know how the new system would operate administratively and the processes involved to enforce it.
She said if Tauranga was moved to the red level it would have a "huge impact not just on them personally but on the entire community, especially, on the local economy.
National Party MP Simon Bridges. Photo / NZME
Tauranga MP Simon Bridges said a red alert level would be negative for the entire community.
"I think we should open up. Everyone has had the opportunity to get vaccinated and we want people who haven't to do so."
Bridges said, in his view, the downsides of restrictions outweighed the upsides of opening up and he had businesses from all sectors contacting his office for information.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern previously said vaccine levels and case numbers would be a key determining factor in what light of the new system each region was put in.
"We don't want people yo-yoing. So starting in green is an unlikely place for people."
