Covid 19 coronavirus Delta outbreak: Whanganui hospitality businesses grateful to see customers again

Rutland Inn Arms owner Jennifer Gilbertson-Small said the 50 person limit will be hard on business. Photo / Bevan Conley

Local hospitality businesses are excited to return to some sort of normality as Whanganui wakes up in Covid-19 alert level 2.

With the Delta variant making its mark in New Zealand, alert level 2 and the rules under it have been modified accordingly.

Face masks must now be worn inside most public venues, including shops, malls and public spaces.

There is also an indoor limit of 50 people at hospitality and event venues, while outdoor venues can have up to 100 people.

Springvale Cafe owner Lyn Crawford said they were grateful to be back after a few tough weeks.

"It has been stressful for myself and my staff. We have been open for takeaways and done some deep cleaning around the place. We are open seven days a week so we don't get to that sort of thing very often so that has worked in our favour.

"We are just ready to get back into it now."

Crawford said the distancing between tables, the 50 person limit and having a single server per table all presented challenges, but those were the rules that had been put in place.

"It is what it is, it's the rules. We can moan about it, but at the end of the day, rules are rules and they are there to keep our customers and staff safe.

"Our turnover will be down and we can't seat as many people and we still have to employ our staff. We just hope it isn't like this for too long, but it will be good to get some income in."

The mandatory scanning upon entry also made Crawford a bit nervous, saying they would have one staff member at the door at all times.

"Having to pay a staff member to stand at the door all day, that will cut into our profit when we still aren't able to have as many people in as normal.

"At the end of the day, we are positive we can open and thankful we are not in Auckland."

Cactus Creme Cafe owner Richard Keat said they would be all set to open on Thursday.

He said they could usually seat around 100, but less than half than that would be able to sit in after you account for staff and distancing.

"We will try our best to keep the limit, but I don't think many people will come in when we first open. Usually it is a bit slow when we first open."

He hopes that everyone who comes in knows and understands the rules and respects this is how it will be until level 1.

Rutland Arms Inn owner Jennifer Gilbertson-Small said it was great to see her staff again on Tuesday as they prepared for level 2.

"We are really excited to be trading. We are happy to trade again and see all our customers again, it has been a while."

She said the 50 person limit had raised some concerns and will be very tough on business.

The Rutland is looking at having two dine-in times in the evening, one from 5.30pm to 7pm and then from 7pm onwards to try to maximise customer patronage.

"Just so we can get as many people as possible and make it viable to open."

"In the meantime, we hope our customers will understand the rules around masks and signing in. It is something we have to live with and hopefully, they will be respectful to our staff and still come in.

"We hope everyone gets behind us and other hospitality businesses around Whanganui during this tough time."