Covid 19 coronavirus: Erratic hits to Auckland city will take time to recover from, business group says

Viv Beck, Heart of the City chief executive, says lockdown presents a complex set of challenges for hard-hit downtown businesses. Photo / Alex Burton

The dreaded Delta variant means many people in the country's biggest urban economy expected lockdown to be extended, an Auckland business association says.

But news Auckland's lockdown will last all month will still be tough for some to accept, Heart of the City chief executive Viv Beck said.

She said the situation was especially concerning to people in the events, hospitality, accommodation and retail sectors.

"There are some very worried people around at the moment."

Beck said downtown Auckland's overall economic prognosis was still good because financial services and other sectors could get by on staff working from home.

"The badly-affected are a relatively small sector of the city economy."

Viv Beck, Heart of the City chief executive, says lockdown presents a complex set of challenges for hard-hit downtown businesses. Photo / Alex Burton

Beck said consumer spending in downtown Auckland alone was likely down by tens of millions of dollars this lockdown - and that excluded the financial hit to the events sector.

The latest Covid-19 lockdown had already forced the cancellation of New Zealand Fashion Week.

Beck said some businesses in the most vulnerable sectors had become more resilient in the five to six months preceding this lockdown, but others were vulnerable.

Even when lockdown eventually ended, it would take a while to revive the city's fortunes, Beck said.

"It takes a little while for people to come back. It's hard to switch on and switch off."

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern this afternoon said the Cabinet met to "stamp out" the Delta variant outbreak and decided to extend Level 4 for all New Zealand to 11.59pm on Friday.

But Auckland will stay at the highest alert level for the rest of the month at least.

Downtown Auckland alone has dozens of contact tracing locations of interest.

Auckland Council has estimated the lockdown will cost greater Auckland's economy roughly $100 million a day.

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff told RNZ this evening he supported the lockdown extension, and nobody he'd spoken to thought it was realistic yet to lower the alert level.

He said fast, effective action was needed to get ahead of the Delta outbreak.

Goff said the council was losing millions of dollars from reduced public transport use and lost parking revenue.

He said the longer lockdown lasted, the harder it would be for everyone, but the council had planned and budgeted for potential disruption.