Covid 19: coronavirus blockade: more than 2 levels are needed to save the economy, jobs and mental health, says Simon Bridges

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All signs are positive for lifting New Zealand shutdown next week and a lower level would see “many” more companies able to open under the guidelines, says Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters.

“Unless there is an adverse finding … the evidence seems compelling for that. [lockdown lifting]Peters told Mike Hosking of Newstalk ZB today.

He would wait until Monday, when the Cabinet meets to decide on the future of the blockade, and to obtain the most recent health information, but at the moment, the data “are aimed at alleviating the situation.”

The four-week blockade officially ends next Wednesday night, at 11:59 pm, but the government will not announce if we drop a level until next week.

However, New Zealanders today will hear what life looks like after the shutdown; Expect to see pubs and food courts still closed, but takeaways and more police are potentially allowed on the roads.

Peters hoped that “a large number” of companies could reopen next week, provided they met the security requirements and guidelines, of which more will be revealed today.

There would be advice for specific sectors and specific guidelines within those sectors, he said. It was important for business owners to have clarity to be able to say “yes, we can deliver.”

“We have to get this economy back as fast as we can without making a mistake along the way.”

Opposition leader Simon Bridges also says the country needs to get out of the lockdown as planned, for the good of the economy.

He told Hosking that Australia would emerge from its confinement in a better economic position because it had allowed more companies and services, such as baristas, to remain open.

Health and the economy were interconnected, and if we were not moving quickly to get workers and businesses back, mental health problems would be as severe as those of Covid 19, he said.

He was in favor of an alert level of “two more” where there was a sense of normality. “If you can make sure you have decent processes – sanitation, social distancing – we will leave it at that … and let many companies do it right away.”

The Government will publish today guidance on alert levels 3 and 2 and the measures that companies would need to have implemented at each step.

But it will likely remain quite restrictive as Finance Minister Grant Robertson will call it going from “essential” to “safe” business.

The announcements occur when the number of global cases exceeded the two million mark. In New York, the epicenter of the pandemic, residents have been told that they must now wear masks where physical distancing is not possible.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he would require people to cover their faces in public places where they would not be able to stay six feet away from others, an aggressive step in New York’s broader effort to contain the deadly spread of the coronavirus.

The requirement, Cuomo said, would be the subject of an executive order that will take effect on Saturday. Those who violate the rule could eventually face fines, the governor said, although he added that he was not yet asking for such sanctions. He also said that for now, not wearing a face covering would not be cause for removal from public transportation.

Mayor Bill de Blasio had said earlier in the day that New York City grocery stores should start demanding that shoppers cover their faces before letting them in. Cuomo’s action went further.

“I don’t know all the local laws that exist on masks to tell them the truth,” said the governor.

Yesterday, for the first time, the number of people recovered from the coronavirus – 728 – outnumbered the number who still had Covid-19 symptoms with 1,386 total cases.

There were 20 new cases yesterday and 13 people were in the hospital with two of them critically ill in intensive care units.

An elderly man who died at his Invercargill home on Tuesday night is believed to be the tenth coronavirus-related death.

The cause of death was not confirmed yesterday, but if it were found to be Covid-19, it would be the first death in the community.

Director-General for Health Ashley Bloomfield said that since New Zealand had passed the peak, the health system had been freed from the immense pressure they wanted to avoid.

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But the country was not yet out of the woods, and Bloomfield said “very rigorous testing” and contact tracing would now be critical in the effort to combat the deadly virus.

Another elderly care center in Auckland was revealed to have had an outbreak, meaning six are now associated with a Covid-19 group. There are 16 in total.

“What we’ve seen with all of our outbreaks of old residential facilities is that [the infection] it has been introduced by someone coming from outside. “

In response to the number of deaths and outbreaks in senior care centers, Ombudsman Peter Boshier presented specific inspections previously scheduled for next year.

Assessments will begin this week and a small team will focus on residents detained at the facility due to dementia or other causes.

“I think the public needs assurances about two things: that the facilities are doing everything possible to prevent the virus from spreading to the most exposed people and that steps are being taken to guarantee the protection of the basic human rights of the residents” . Boshier said.

Bloomfield ordered a review of the elderly care facility with an outbreak and how other facilities were prepared.

On April 20, the cabinet will decide whether to lift the restrictive level 4 alert block two days later, and the main basis for making that decision would be whether Bloomfield trusted the virus to be under control.

But this would give companies little time to prepare.

Guidelines will be released today to show what steps businesses need to take to operate safely at different levels of alertness, including ensuring that employees and customers can be socially distanced and tracked by contact.

The government will work through guidance with sector-by-sector specific examples and will consult and change as they develop, Robertson said.

“What I can say now is that our emphasis on level 3 shifts from ‘essential’ economic activity to ‘safe’ economic activity.”

“The critical questions are: Is it possible that your company has social distancing? Can you incorporate tools or mechanisms for tracking contacts to keep track of your supply chain and your customers?”

Business leaders were under no illusions: Alert Level 3 would be little different from the restrictions of Alert Level 4.

“People will not gather in cafes, nor can I see the government opening the city,” said Auckland Chamber of Commerce chief executive Michael Barnett.

However, a move to Alert Level 3 could accompany a loosening of restrictions for online shopping so that stores could virtually open, while the hospitality sector expected restaurants to at least be able to offer takeout meals.

The industry is pressing the government to consider converting alcohol licenses to the facility so that establishments can offer something like a cooked meal for four with a bottle of wine, Hospitality New Zealand President Jeremy Smith said.

“We are looking to create a point of difference to at least try to generate some revenue while we wait to go from level 3 to level 2 and we can reopen.”

The blockade has been brutal for bars and restaurants and the time spent at level 3 would be critical.

Even if hospitality companies could open at the end of the four-week shutdown, as much as 25 percent would go bankrupt, Smith said.

“The longer it gets at that number, the more it will increase.”

Meanwhile, Education Minister Chris Hipkins has noted that schools could reopen on April 29, provided they have not been affected by an outbreak.

Children of essential workers would receive priority and the Government was working through public health councils on different age groups, as it would be difficult to keep young children 2 m apart, but older students were more susceptible to the virus, Hipkins said.

It is still unclear if public playgrounds could be used at Alert Level 3, but food courts, libraries, museums, cinemas, amusement parks, and other public places will remain closed.

Gyms will also remain closed at Alert Level 3, but expect to be able to open their doors at Alert Level 2 as long as they limit the number, avoiding physical distancing and team swapping whenever possible.

New Zealanders would also see a change in the way the alert level would be enforced, and Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said the police would focus on deliberately breaking the rules under alert level 3.

More officers would be on the roads, and while patrols had been cut during alert level 4, a revival was expected, Coster said.

But little would change for supermarkets, except that there might be magazines on the shelves.

Food and Grocery Council spokesman Brent Webling said he expected grocery shopping to be less hectic so there would be more time to get products on the shelves.