New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the country will move out of its level four coronavirus lockdown to alert level three at 11.59pm on Monday 27 April, clearing the way for manufacturers including printing and signage companies to prepare for reopening their doors. "Great news," said Print NZ GM Ruth Cobb.
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"Does not allow more social activity”: NZ PM Jacinda Ardern |
Businesses needing to prepare to move into alert level 3 could now be accessed, Ardern said on Monday.
“Make your business COVID-19 safe. COVID-19 has spread in workplaces, so the quid pro quo of being able to open is doing it in a way that doesn’t spread the virus. Important industries like construction, manufacturing and forestry will be able to open, as will retail so long as it is contactless retail.
“Waiting to move to alert levels next week costs us two more business days, but gives us much greater longer term health and economic returns down the track,” Ardern said. “It means we are less likely to go backwards.
“This week businesses will be allowed to get ready to open, such as employers re-entering premises to receive stock if necessary, but we ask that in doing so they stick to social distancing and their bubbles.”
PrintNZ general manager Ruth Cobb told members last week it would be good "to have our industry back in business. “The change [to level 3] in a nutshell is moving from "essential business" to "safe business" and I believe that all the businesses in our industry can work within that criteria,” Cobb told PrintNZ members via email. “It will be good to have our industry back in business, but remember that safety remains the number one goal, as we do not want to end up in Level 4 again.”
Ardern added: “Alert level 3 allows more economic activity like construction, manufacturing and forestry, but it does not allow more social activity. And for good reason. If we want to make sure that we are a health success story, and ensure our economy can start to operate again without the virus taking off, we need to get the next phase right. The worst thing we can do for our country is to yo-yo between levels, with all of the uncertainty that this would bring.
“Our transmission rate, the number of cases each person with the virus passes it onto, is now 0.48, less than half a person each. We have amongst the lowest number of confirmed cases per 100,000 people in the world.
“We have done what very few countries have been able to do. We have stopped a wave of devastation."
The government's alert level 3 information is available here.
In an updated notice to PrintNZ members on Tuesday, GM Ruth Cobb said:
Great news yesterday that NZ moves to Alert Level 3 on Tuesday 28 April. That should see the return to work for all the businesses in our industry and today's e-letter is to highlight a few key points.
The focus moves from "essential" businesses to "safe" businesses and this has been emphasised by the lead agency for compliance moving from MBIE to Worksafe.
Contrary to what was initially said, there will be no self-accreditation online registration process.
It will be up to each business to have in place a plan to ensure that they can keep their workers safe and minimise any chance of transmission of Covid-19 in the workplace and beyond.
I am currently working on Printing Protocols for the Industry, as well as a sample of a site based plan and forms that you will need to have in place to ensure you comply. I will circulate these as soon as they are finalised.
All staff/contractors will need a Level 3 Covid-19 induction when they return to work so they understand what is required.
The key areas that need to be covered are:
Hygiene
Physical distancing
Contact tracing
Worker engagement (including contractors)
Contact-less engagement for deliveries/despatch
Monitoring
Nothing you put in place for Covid-19 should compromise any existing health and safety protocols that you have in the workplace.
You are able to go to the workplace between now and then in order to ready the workplace for business on Tuesday - that may include cleaning, receiving of deliveries to allow production, preparation of machines etc, but you still can't do any non-essential work.
It is vital that everyone takes this seriously - if a confirmed case results in a cluster in a business, Worksafe will not hesitate to shut down that business, and potentially the industry. There also remains the potential for the PM to push NZ back to Level 4 which nobody wants to see.
