Covid 19 Omicron: Northland 'moving in a good direction' after Government drops Covid restrictions

QR code scanning will be on the back-burner after April 4 under new Covid-19 rules, unless there is another outbreak or variant. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Northlanders can look forward to a less restrictive weekend following the Government announcement of significantly loosened Covid-19 rules.

The number of people allowed to gather inside increases from 100 to 200 and all outdoor gathering limits will be scrapped when the new traffic light changes kick in at 11.59pm this Friday.

Several further changes will begin on April 4 - including the removal of vaccine pass requirements, QR code scanning, and vaccine mandates.

Changes to hospitality and venues

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the decision to remove outdoor gathering limits and increase indoor limits was based on developed evidence that showed the risk of a case infecting other people in hospitality settings was only 6.7 per cent.

"There is no question that this is likely to be welcome news because we can see from the body of evidence that it is safe to be outside," said Ardern.

Northland branch of Hospitality NZ chairman and Kaikohe's Bank Bar owner John Maurice called the announcement good news and a "move in the right direction".

"For hospitality, it's certainly good news to increase the limit to 200, it will hopefully enable bigger venues to accommodate more people.

Patrons at The Butter Factory will no longer have to be seated when outdoors under the new restrictions set to take effect on Friday at 11.59pm. Photo / Michael Cunningham

"People that haven't been vaccinated will now be able to come into premises where they couldn't before, so that's moving in a good direction."

While vaccine passes will no longer be required from April 4, some venues and events may still wish to use them but they will no longer be mandated. That is unless a new variant means they are needed again.

"There are one or two places that closed because the owners didn't believe in it, so they will be able to operate again which will be good," Maurice said.

Ardern said advice would be updated for businesses or organisations wanting to maintain mandates. However, they needed to undertake their own health and safety checks to decide whether mandates needed to be kept in place.

A point of contention within hospitality is the continuation of the seating rules for indoor gatherings with Hospitality NZ calling the move "nonsensical".

"Moving the (indoor) cap to 200 is a waste of time because people still have to be seated," Hospitality NZ said in a statement.

Owner Luke Revell in the outdoor area of his bar, Butter Factory, where he will now not be required to limit guests. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Butter Factory owner Luke Revell said the new rules sounded like the return of live music and dancing at his Whangārei bar but other smaller venues wouldn't be celebrating the changes.

"That's fantastic, it means we can start doing gigs, that's great for us. At the same time, there are many other bars in Whangārei that the [new limits] do not help."

Butter Factory has both indoor and outdoor areas, so Revell will have to monitor having a maximum of 200 people seated and socially distanced inside, while people in the outdoor area can stand and the headcount won't be monitored.

"We will probably open up the outdoor bar and close up the indoor areas, just to sort of align with it as much as we can," said Revell.

When asked by the Advocate, chief press secretary Andrew Campbell confirmed capacity limits were removed for the outside parts of venues, but number limits as well as mask rules and social distancing still applied when people moved between outdoors and indoors.

What it means for schools

The end of education mandates on April 4 is welcomed news to Tai Tokerau principals who anticipate a "healing process" ahead.

Ardern announced the Government would no longer require a mandate "across all of education".

She said the vaccination rate, mask use and improved ventilation systems in schools had made it a safer decision to remove the teachers' mandate.

However, the question of whether school boards could require teachers to be vaccinated was met with Ardern saying she needed to check.

Tai Tokerau Principals' Association president Pat Newman said the removal of mandates meant the sector could now begin a healing process.

"The us and them is out of the equation and for the sanity of our kids, teachers, and community we can start the healing process."

Newman said while the changes would ease staff shortages in schools, not everyone would return.

"It doesn't mean that people who've lost their jobs will necessarily get them back because in some cases, those jobs would have been advertised at the time and already filled.

"Scrapping of the mandate means unvaccinated teachers can now work at the school but the jobs should be there too. It is not a matter of people just turning up to get their old jobs back," he said.

"There were damn good teachers who were affected. Even if I did not agree with their reason to resign, I would welcome them back in the profession and hope we can have a bit of a healing process."

With regard to the risks for immuno-compromised children, Newman said it was a concern but a manageable one.

"As long as the parents have let us know, it is manageable and we can put a system around it."

Mandates continue for high-risk sectors

Vaccine mandates for health, aged care, border and MIQ workers will continue as they work in high-risk environments, the Government says.

Workers in those roles dealt with more vulnerable people or were on the frontlines and were at a higher risk of encountering new variants, according to the Government.

The Ministry of Health was asked to assess whether the use of the mandates in the health sector could be narrowed.

Jill Mortimer, a former nurse at Whangārei Hospital, recognised the changes may allow unvaccinated nurses such as herself to move into un-mandated roles but wasn't yet sure what that would entail.

"Hopefully it will open up opportunities for healthcare workers and teachers who haven't been able to go out into the community, regarding the mandate, but as far as earning a living goes it's not going to open up any opportunities for health people."

Mortimer has been unable to find a nursing job in telehealth and other non-face-to-face health roles due to vaccine mandates which she assumes "will remain in place".

"There's a lot of very disillusioned nurses out there now," she said.

Despite the plan to remove the mandates, Ardern said being highly vaccinated would continue to be critical in the fight against Covid 19.

"Two years ago we had very few tools. Now we have plenty, but we cannot do it alone, and it wouldn't work if we did."