Further support to Christchurch's retail and hospitality sector has been called for as the country braces itself for another week under alert level four restrictions and at least another two at alert level three.
Today, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the country would be moving to alert level three from 11:59pm next Monday. The country will then remain under level three restrictions for at least two weeks until Cabinet assesses whether to move down another level.
Under alert level three, there cannot be any contact amongst the public. That means retail has to be contactless with purchases and deliveries.
Shopfronts cannot be open to customers, with the exception of supermarkets, dairies and petrol stations.
Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce chief executive Leeann Watson said it was "almost impossible" for the retail and hospitality sector to function under these restrictions and more support was needed from the Government.
"This reinforces the need for some intervention for retail and hospitality because it is incredibly difficult for them to have any normal trade under alert level three," she said.
"Some businesses will be able to operate online, but not all of them will be able to and certainly not to full trading capacity."
National Party Leader Simon Bridges said alert level three was "3.9."
"It is almost level four, it is a situation that is more restrictive or will be more restrictive than what they are doing in Australia already," he said.
"I think we fundamentally should be in a situation where the businesses can get back to it and workers can get into work and where they provide safety assurances."
Original Sin, Fat Eddies and Kong co-owner Max Bremner said while he thought the Government's decision was "pragmatic," he thought more support was needed for the hospitality sector.
"There will be lots of casualties and if they [the Government] want to lessen the blow then support is needed," he said.
Christchurch Central City Business Association chairwoman Annabel Turley echoed the calls of further support being needed.
"A lot of the businesses in the central city are in their infancy, we have not got the cash draws or anything like that to cover this kind of thing. If it was a natural disaster we would have insurance, but we don't have any of that to help us stay afloat and weather this kind of storm," she said.
