Widespread staff shortages due to Covid-19 isolation are causing havoc in the Bay of Plenty, with businesses forced to cut opening hours and services, or close their doors.
One bar was losing $50,000 for every week it had to close, while other impacted businesses ranged from butchers and rubbish collectors to hairdressers and supermarkets.
Supply chains have also been impacted, leaving some shelves bare and dishes off the menu.
A volunteer worker roster has been set up to help ease some of the pressure on Tauranga's hospitality and retail sectors.
New Zealand had more than 22,500 new cases yesterday, exceeding 152,000 active cases but experts have said the Omicron outbreak peak is still a week or two away.
The Ministry of Health also reported five deaths of people with Covid-19, including one in Tauranga Hospital who had come in for an unrelated condition but tested positive for the virus.
The Bay of Plenty District Health Board area had 1248 new and 9192 active cases.
Toi Te Ora Public Health said 14 people with Covid were in Tauranga Hospital and one was in Whakatāne Hospital. It said 811 of the new cases were in Tauranga and 241 in Western Bay.
Tauranga and Western Bay residents have been told to put their food scraps and glass recycling in their rubbish bins due to a driver shortage.
Tauranga City Council sustainability and waste manager Sam Fellows said the council made the call to reduce and prioritise essential kerbside collection services as it expected the driver shortage to get worse.
He could not say what proportion of that workforce was out as it fluctuated daily, he said.
Mainstreet Downtown Tauranga has set up a roster of its members and individuals willing to lend a hand to short-staffed businesses if needed.
Manager Millie Pidwell said many cafes, restaurants, bars and shops were having to close for days or more with staff home self-isolating.
"Fingers crossed this current outbreak will reside quickly and our businesses won't be struggling to fill their rosters again, but even if we can make a difference over the next couple of weeks or more, it will mean a lot to our businesses."
Doug Jarvis of Doug Jarvis Butcher and Deli said his two stores had reduced hours to cope.
He was running out of meat and operating with a skeleton crew.
Having spoken to suppliers, he said slaughterhouses were also operating with minimum staff and animals were not being processed.
"This is worse than being in lockdown. It's a weird time."
Every industry would be affected by staffing and supply issues, he said.
The General in Mount Maunganui has just reopened after 10 days of being closed.
Co-owner William Crosby said it had been extremely stressful the past month or so, with seven of his 18 staff members off work with Covid.
"We just didn't have enough staff."
He said it was a loss of about $50,000 every seven days closed, and he feared it would happen again as staff became sick.
"Waking up every day, there's always something new. It's dreadful at the moment, it's just horrendous."
He said while the Government Leave Support Scheme helped cover wages of employees that needed to self-isolate, it did not cover wages of staff that couldn't work when there were not enough to open.
"It's just coming straight out of the business."
He worried for staff, and for his family, and said each day he worked to not show how stressed he was.
Crosby said deliveries were taking far longer than normal and some items were unable to be ordered.
"We've had to take some things off the menu."
Omanu superette manager Monica Kim worked at the shop with her parents.
"The lucky thing is I don't live with my parents, so if one of us gets sick, we don't have to isolate all of us except if we all get sick."
She said she planned to call in her brother-in-law if that happened.
"It is gonna be really hard for him but we don't have any choice. Supporting each other is the key word."
Prices to buy goods were increasing and items were sometimes out of stock, she said.
"I have to find a substitute product if I am lucky, otherwise it would be empty shelves. Suppliers don't have many items."
Pak'nSave Cameron Rd owner-operator Dean Waddell said there were still good levels of stock coming into the store, but the range had narrowed.
"We've been finding things a bit like everyone else. Our staff numbers are down but everyone is coping well."
He said he was proud of his team.
"We're coming up to two years of it now . . . it's not new for us."
Hair to Stare At manager Chloe Carter said, of her 17 staff, eight were off on Thursday.
While she said they had been lucky with low numbers testing positive, employees needed to self-isolate as household contacts.
"It's impacting on us quite a lot."
Everything was being figured out day by day as clients were also cancelling last minute for the same reasons.
The trouble was with appointments unable to be rescheduled; with three weddings this weekend, she had needed to find replacements for the two staff members off.
"Once it peaks, I think we'll be okay."
Pāpāmoa hair salon Fringe Studio was unable to open this last week, as three of five staff members were sick.
Owner Lisa Woodgate, who had also tested positive, said their children caught it first.
"With kids at four schools . . . it's kind of inevitable."
One remaining staff member was looking after clients who had appointments, and no new bookings were being accepted until after March 15.
In Rotorua, FTP Vegan Eats owner Kaya Sparke was "gutted" to have had to let go both of her staff and run the burger bar alone with reduced hours.
Now open three days a week instead of five, she said it was sad to not be able to offer food all the time.
"But we didn't want to let go just yet ...
"If you have the option to support a local business, that's amazing. And you're supporting someone's livelihood, someone in your community that has bills to pay so it's a really, really cool thing to be able to do."
The Government had set up three fortnightly Covid-19 Support Payments (CSP) to be available with applications opening for the first payment February 28 for the period starting from February 16.
It is a payment to help support viable and ongoing businesses or organisations which have experienced a 40 per cent or more drop in revenue as a result of Covid-19 related circumstances.
At the time it was announced, Finance Minister Grant Robertson said the six-week timeframe reflected the international experience that the peak of the Omicron outbreak should pass after about six weeks.
"We will continue to closely monitor the situation and have the option to extend the payment if this is necessary."
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