Covid 19 coronavirus: Yes, you can buy a flat white under level 3 - but there is a catch

It's good news for coffee lovers if and when we go to alert level 3 - but businesses must be able to comply with contactless measures. Photo / File

New Zealanders will be able to get their caffeine fix from cafes across the country when New Zealand moves into level 3, but it's not going to be like the pre-Covid-19 days.

This is according to Minister of Small Business Stuart Nash, who has been working with businesses to finalise which ones are, and are not, allowed to open in level 3.

Speaking to the Nation this morning, Nash confirmed that people would be able to buy coffee from a café when lockdown restrictions are eased.

Likewise, a couple of scoops of chips from a chippy, a Pad Thai from a restaurant and even building supplies from Bunnings.

But businesses would need to put in place systems whereby staff had no contact with customers, Nash said.

Minister of Small Business Stuart Nash. Photo / Warren Buckland

For a cafe, that means a "click-and-collect" type of system, or phoning in an order.

"[As long as] there is no contact with the staff," Nash told the programme.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern revealed details about how New Zealand would operate under level 3. Her Cabinet will make a decision on Monday about whether to move the country to that level on Thursday, a month after lockdown was declared.

The main change is around businesses. There will be a shift from only "essential" businesses operating, to "safe" businesses being allowed to trade.

"[Level 3] is not a return to pre-Covid-19 days," Finance Minister Grant Robertson said yesterday.

"We are some time away from that."

Nash said this morning the Government wants businesses to be able to operate, but it does not want to risk the virus regaining a foothold.

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"It looks like that curve is flattening, which means that less and less New Zealanders are contracting Covid-19," he said.

"We do not want to undo the good work we have done by being slack now."

Using Bunnings as an example, Nash said if a customer could phone ahead and order supplies which could be collected through a drive-through or similar type arrangement, then it would be allowed to open.

"But you won't be pulling up to the car park, getting out and wandering around the aisles like you have done pre-Covid."

Businesses don't need to be approved by the Government to operate during level 3.

They would, however, have to fill out a self-assessment form to prove to customers and staff that the business was doing things safely, Nash said.

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website