Covid 19 coronavirus: Whangārei's cafe among thousands preparing to reopen tomorrow

Laura and Kara Hosznyak, from Whangārei's Hello Pickle Cafe, will re-open tomorrow but with level 3 restrictions. Photo / Michael Cunningham

With lockdown restrictions eased slightly from tomorrow, and many more businesses allowed to open, Northland companies have been working frantically to get to grips with the new rules so they can open.

One is Whangārei's Hello Pickle Cafe, on Bank St, which will open tomorrow after working out a way to meet the new requirements when the country moves from Covid-19 alert level 4 to level 3.

The cafe was only opened in September last year by owners Laura and Kara Hosznyak and Kara said they never expected anything like a global pandemic to impact on their business within their first six months.

''For us, and most in hospitality, it's about adapting. That's all we can do to get through this,'' she said.

The couple have devised a way that they can open tomorrow and maintain the contactless and social distancing requirements of operating under level 3.

Kara said they had set up a website with Morepork Web Design which had the menu and contactless payment details, which people could order through and there was also an order now button on its Facebook page.

She said the couple were fortunate that the cafe had a sliding window at the front it could do contactless service through that and they would also deliver. They would maintain all the guidelines laid out under level 3.

''We've come through (the lockdown) pretty okay and we feel lucky to be in the position we are in now. It's been quite a weird time, but we can now get back to business and serve our customers,'' Kara said.

''Our customers are a huge part of our daily routine and we've missed them, so we are really looking forward to getting back up and running.''

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website