With New Zealand a shade ahead of Australia as far as its coronavirus response goes, looking at what’s happening across the ditch gives us a pretty good window into how things are going to pan out here. This afternoon, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern revealed how, in a post-lockdown New Zealand, the nation’s pubs are going to be allowed to operate once the doors swing back open. And for those of you frothing to post one elbow up on the wood and surgically graft your lips to the beer tap as normal, this is probably going to make for some decently grim reading.
New Zealand officials are currently debating whether to roll back their lockdown restrictions from the current level three down to level two, after the country previously embarked on a full-level four quarantine shutdown of virtually the entire country for a full month.
Outlining what those restrictions will entail, Prime Minister Ardern was at pains to explain what that means for the nation’s hospitality industry.
Crucially, there is relief at hand for thirsty punters, with pubs and restaurants permitted to reopen for on-premises service under the significantly relaxed restrictions. However, that won’t be without its own set of strict regulations.
Social distancing measures will still be enforced in pubs, with Ardern dubbing the policy the “three S’s.” That being: Seated, Separated, and Single Server.
Under the rules, a licensed venue must only permit as many people as it can safely seat, and venue capacity limits will be capped at 100 no matter what the size of the building.
Further to that, all tables in a pub must be separated by a socially responsible amount of distance. And each table must be serviced by a single server.
What that means is that all pubs in New Zealand will be forced to switch to a fully-table serviced model, rather than have random punters congregate at a bar together waiting to be served. That, theoretically, rules out practices like physically posting up at the bar or sending one mate to buy a shout.
In a short statement confirming the level two restrictions, Prime Minister Ardern asserted “Level 2 is a safer normal, designed to get as many people back to work as possible and the economy back up and running in a safe way, made possible only by our collective actions at Levels 4 and 3 to beat the virus and break the chain of transmission.”
Nightclubs and larger dance venues will remain closed under the restrictions. However most forms of domestic air travel (excluding – for example – business related travel to a large conference) will be allowed to recommence.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is due to announce a raft of expected restriction relaxations tomorrow, ahead of the Mother’s Day weekend.
