Only 10 per cent of small to medium-sized businesses have managed to secure a supply of rapid antigen tests to monitor the Covid status of their employees, a survey shows.
The findings have been gleaned from an MYOB survey of 502 small to medium-sized New Zealand businesses and come amid record levels of the Omicron variant across the country, which has seen the daily caseload surpass 1000 positive cases on several days this week.
Rapid antigen tests are seen as a key tool in gauging the spread of Covid-19 across the workforce and allowing staff to return to work faster.
"Getting employees to take rapid antigen tests regularly – especially if they are customer-facing – could not only help them detect the virus early but also reduce some of the impacts businesses are most concerned about that could result from the spread of Covid-19 between employees," MYOB head of customer service Jo Tozer said.
"Being strategic about employees' hours and placement – such as operating shift-work-type groups and ensuring only a limited number of these groups are on the premises at any one time – could also mean that the business still has capacity to operate, should one of the teams become infected with the virus. With the combination of shift groups and RATs, businesses may have more of a chance to stay on top of the potential negative impact of infections."
More than half of the business owners surveyed (58 per cent), expect to see a negative impact on the financial health of their business if New Zealand stayed in the red light setting for more than a month, and almost a quarter (23 per cent) believed they would take a significant financial hit.
Business owners said they would be open to using RATs once they became more widely available in the market: 33 per cent saying they will request that employees take a test weekly before coming into work, and 10 per cent saying they would like to test staff daily.
Concerns are mounting among business owners in New Zealand about the impact on staffing as the outbreak grows here.
MYOB's poll found 45 per cent are concerned they may not have enough employees to continue to operate their business at the same capacity.
Almost 35 per cent said they will have to temporarily close their business if their employees become infected or designated close contacts, while the same number also said some of their employees cannot do their jobs from home.
"What's also concerning, is that our survey showed 31 per cent of SMEs said they will have zero or limited cashflow if most or all employees have to isolate because they've contracted the virus or are a close contact," Tozer said.
Fifty-two per cent of local SMEs currently have a plan in place to prevent or mitigate the spread of the virus in their business, while 35 per cent are in the process of making one.
Mitigation strategies included improving hygiene practices (51 per cent), permitting only fully vaccinated workers on the premises (42 per cent), mandatory mask-wearing (41 per cent), remote working (30 per cent), and dividing the workforce into teams (22 per cent).
The issue of accessibility to RATs has been cause of great consternation for the business community.
Earlier this week, Auckland Business Chamber chief Michael Barnett warned that the Government's policy of designating some businesses as critical would end up hurting small to medium-sized businesses.
His comments came off the back of the Government's "close contact exemption scheme" that would allow workers at critical businesses to keep working even if they are close contacts.
As part of this scheme, critical workers in essential businesses will be able to order RATs to clear close contacts to return to work.
Non-essential businesses do not have access to the scheme or the Government-supplied RATs and are required to acquire their own supply if they wish to use them.
But this is easier said than done.
Importer Gillian Berryman expressed concern about the massive red tape involved in acquiring a supply of RATs from abroad.
She said her business, GJB Trading, operates as an importer and has longstanding relationships with international firms involved in the development of RATs.
Following high demand from her customers in New Zealand, she managed to secure a substantial supply of high-quality RATs which could be shipped to the country within 10 days.
The RATs in question trade under the Gensure brand and are currently in use in a number of countries.
The problem, however, is that the company has been unable to acquire approval from the Ministry of Health for the importation of these RATs to the country.
"The supplier of this stock will understandably not sit for long on this RAT supply waiting for the NZ MOH to provide approval, should this not be received as soon as possible we fear this stock will be provided to another country," she told the Herald.
"We have applied to the MOH for approval, provided material documentation including confirmation of approved sale and passing of requirements for the EU, UK, Germany and France."
The Ministry of Health currently provides a list of 14 rapid antigen tests that can be imported to the country. To import and sell any other brands, business owners must first seek approval from the Ministry of Health for the importation and sale of those RATs.
Berryman says the Ministry of Health website currently states that "applicants will be advised on either the progress of the application, or the outcome of the application, within 25 working days of receipt".
"Thus, it takes five to even be advised on the progress of an application! It may take even longer to gain approval," she says.
"This for a RAT in this instance that exceeds MOH requirements and has been accepted and authorised for sale in the EU, the UK, Germany, France and numerous other countries.
"Although it has passed the rigid testing in all these countries and laboratories, it will still take the MOH five weeks to even advise the progress of an application.
"Something is seriously wrong here."
Shortly after speaking to the Herald, Berryman was informed via an email the ministry had rejected her application for importation of the RATs.
"Thus we have gone from a five-week review process projection, to the next morning a full technical review being completed," she said.
"Amazing how fast the MOH can react sometimes."
"The regulatory authorities of [10] countries have decided that Gensure is a product that meets their criteria for safe use by their citizens, but New Zealand is the sole country to date that has decided it's not good enough for Kiwis."
She said she offered to provide further information should any be required, but no request was made by the Ministry of Health.
She had since noticed the MOH website had been updated to reflect there were changes to the application process.
"The MOH has also now taken down their application for RAT approval, advising that a new application will be posted on 21 of February that will be easier to use. Thus if we had wanted to make a new application now we would have to wait until the 21st."
Berryman worries if supply to New Zealand isn't increased quickly, many businesses will be unable to test their staff and the prices of the limited supply of RATs will invariably go up.
Meanwhile, many New Zealand businesses wait empty-handed while the growing shadow of Omicron threatens their livelihoods.
Industrial projects dominate new supply, the study found, comprising 65% of new stock.