There are 40 new cases of coronavirus confirmed in New Zealand today. Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield told reporters there were also three new probable cases. There were 155 cases of confirmed and probable cases, and he said the daily tally would now include probable cases.
Already reeling before the announcement of a nationwide lockdown, some hospitality businesses are now worried about their long-term viability.
Faced with shutting their doors for at least four weeks, they are now relying on the government bailout that some say they are having trouble accessing.
KarenBoyd is the owner operator of Baked on Carrington, a cafe in New Plymouth which employs two staff.
"How do I pay the rent? How do I pay the wages, the power bill, the phone bill, my mortgage?"
Boyd said as a sole trader she did not yet have the 13-digit business number required to access government relief funds.
"I really don't understand that either because I've been trying to get my New Zealand business number.
"I even went to my accountant and he went online with me and it wouldn't get through. It kept saying 'error' but it won't tell me what the error is."
Boyd said she was worried about her staff, one of whom was expecting a baby.
Heyday Beer Company general manager David Wood said turnover was already down by a third before yesterday's announcement stopped the business in its tracks.
"Straightaway we've not opened the bar. We're closed now for the foreseeable," Wood said.
"We're just looking now at distributing the perishables that we've got already prepared for this week's service.
"Getting that out to people who need it and shutting things down and getting things ready for a month of not getting used."
Wood said he was confident the Wellington brewery bar and restaurant could hold on to its 16 staff.
"We were lucky to get the government's wage subsidy. We should be able to retain our staff and hopefully reopen when we're able to, but yeah it's a huge loss of potential income ... hundreds of thousands of dollars."
Wood was happy with the lockdown decision however.
"A month ago this would've been unimaginable but a week ago I thought it was fairly likely seeing the way other countries were going and I think it's the right thing to do, the responsible thing to do so we're happy to do our part and self-isolate."
Neil Cohen owns the Quarter Acre Cafe Bistro near Levin.
He too would be relying on a helping hand from the Government to pay his 20 staff.
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"Thankfully the government has come up with this package so we've signed up for it. We were trying to hold out for as long as possible, but it's inevitable.
