August 17 2021
Auckland and Coromandel will go into level 4 lockdown for seven days – and the rest of the country for three days – from 11.59pm tonight.
Only a few hours will pass between two crucial events.
At 2.29pm, news emerged of a Covid-19 community case. And at 6pm, or very soon after, an announcement is expected from the Prime Minister.
Those hours and minutes can make a massive difference to business owners, managers and staff inindustries already reeling from the pandemic.
Heart of the City chief executive Viv Beck said the Covid-19 community case announcement was "gut-wrenching" for downtown Auckland businesses.
Auckland's economic core is on edge waiting for details about the latest Covid-19 community case. File photo / Alex Burton
Regardless of what official advice the country gets at 6pm or later, some diners were already cancelling reservations, preparing for a lockdown or alert level changes.
Business owners were having to make snap decisions - what bookings to keep, what bookings to cancel, what stock to preserve, what stock to discard.
"Fortunately, people have been through it before - but it doesn't make it any easier," Beck said.
Thousands of people who worked, shopped, or visited the CBD during the day would have to head home in the next few hours, and Beck urged people to be proactive and practice physical distancing where possible, and wear face masks.
The community case timing ignited bitter memories of last year's Auckland August cluster, she said.
But for now, many central Auckland businesses were living in limbo.
Wellington's hospitality operators were nervous too, Hospitality NZ national president Jeremy Smith said.
He expected if Auckland went to Level 3 or 4 lockdown, other regions would have their alert levels raised.
But Smith said if Auckland was only placed in Level 2, the rest of the country might see no alert level changes.
He admitted it was a waiting game for his members, like it was for the rest of the community.
