Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a raft of changes on Wednesday, with vaccine passes and mandates in certain sectors scrapped in early April. Photo / Bevan Conley
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a raft of changes on Wednesday, with vaccine passes and mandates in certain sectors scrapped in early April. Photo / Bevan Conley
Whanganui businesses and sports organisations are welcoming the raft of changes regarding the current rules around Covid-19.
While the move is being welcomed by some in the hospitality industry, a Whanganui iwi leader questions why the move is happening as daily case numbers in the region and country continue torise.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the stepping back from Covid-19 restrictions on Wednesday.
The Government will not require workers in education, police or the Defence Force to be vaccinated against Covid-19 from Monday, April 4.
Other workforces that have required staff get vaccinated may continue doing so if they want.
Mandates would continue to be used for health, aged care and border and MIQ workers - because they either dealt with the more vulnerable or on the frontlines so were at higher risk of new variants.
Asked if people who lost their jobs because of mandates would now get their jobs back, Ardern said some would probably get their jobs back - especially those who had been on extended leave.
"This is not the end, but in some ways it is also a new beginning."
Whanganui Mayor Hamish McDouall said he had always championed a cautious approach, so he was surprised the move was happening so soon.
Whanganui Mayor Hamish McDouall asked locals to remain cautious despite the changes. Photo / Lewis Gardner
"We can see the end of the wave, but we are still on the wave.
"We just have to take our hats off to the entire community who have done an outstanding job to keep this virus limited. It is quite staggering to be standing here and have no Covid deaths. I don't want that to tick up to one."
He cautioned locals to keep up the general health habits that have been picked up during the pandemic around masks, washing hands and hygiene.
McDouall said these past two years would be looked back on in a very different way in the future.
"We will look back in 10 years and go, 'wow, those two years really altered society'."
Ardern said the timing for easing restrictions was because there was a clearer picture of when Omicron would peak.
"I consider this to be a cautious moving forward."
It meant removing restrictions that carried least risk, while keeping those such as isolation and mask use which did make a difference.
Whanganui deputy mayor Jenny Duncan has opposed the mandate and vaccine pass rules, saying the peeling back of those "can't come soon enough".
"The harm caused has greatly outweighed the benefit and time will evidence that."
She criticised the announcement as "oblique and optional" because it allowed some businesses to continue their own requirements around whether people entering them were vaccinated.
"We still have a way to go," she said.
Whanganui iwi leader Ken Mair said the move was questionable and had put political and economic impacts ahead of impacts on Māori health.
With more than 20,000 cases in back-to-back days and hundreds in the Whanganui DHB region, Mair said he could not understand why now was the time to make the changes.
Whanganui iwi leader Ken Mair says political expediency and the economic impact is being put ahead of Māori health. Photo / Bevan Conley
"I want to know where the Māori lens has been over making these recommendations."
There had been some discussions with Māori leaders that appeared to have been ignored and not listened to, he said.
"From my point of view, I think it is an extremely dangerous time for our iwi, hapū and Māori to what is being put into place."
He said the announcement was made with the political and economic impact a priority over health.
"You have to see through the lens of health and I don't think that has been the priority and we have been thrown to the wolves regarding this strategy."
On the changes to the mandates, Mair said the Government approached it the wrong way from the start.
"The divisive outcomes that were caused by the way they rolled out the mandates has had a major impact on communities around the country."
He said it could have been done differently.
"I think what they should have done is have a concentrated testing regime to ensure their workplaces were safe. You could have done it on a daily or weekly basis to ensure everyone was okay in your workplace.
"You didn't have to go down the track where people have to lose their jobs. I know this because I have had to advocate and act on a large number of workers right across the board in our community."
From 11.59pm on Friday, March 25 the number of people allowed to gather inside increases from 100 to 200 under the red light traffic setting. Outdoor gathering limits have been scrapped.
Masks will continue to be used, but the move means outdoor concerts, sports and other outdoor events would be able to resume with crowds under the red setting.
Scanning in would no longer be required.
Whanganui Rugby CEO Bridget Belsham said players who opted not to be vaccinated were now able to play for the upcoming season.
She said it was "extremely difficult" in 2021 managing crowd limitations.
"Our clubs rely on people coming to games and spending money over the bar and food.
"I'm sure they will be quite welcoming not having to manage those numbers, with players able to participate and enjoy after matches, which there have been restrictions around over the last few years."
Owner of Frank Bar + Eatery and Mint Lez Kiriona said he was stoked with move.
"Anything is better than staying where we are."
Lez Kiriona (left), who helped organise DnB festival 3 Days Deep, says scrapping outdoor gathering numbers under red is great for the events industry. Photo / Supplied
He would be looking to open the Lit Bar side of Frank once again with the indoor gathering numbers increased to 200.
The removal of outdoor gathering numbers also meant they could hold larger events outside..
"At the moment, Lit Bar has been closed forever. It feels like a dead space at the moment. To get something up and running will be great.
"Since running 3 Days Deep, we have actually had to cancel a few events because of gathering numbers. So to see those removed is great to see too."
After losing seven staff due to the vaccine mandate coming in last December, he was glad that would be scrapped.
"We are so happy to have them back if we can."
Not having to worry about scanning in and managing vaccine passes was also another weight off the shoulders of hospitality businesses, he added.
"It's all positive. But there is always that struggle of getting back up. It's like a train that has been dead for ages and you just have to build slowly. Hopefully that train keeps moving and they don't change anything."
