New Zealand’s vaccine passport mandates and capacity restrictions will start to ease off once the Omicron outbreak is safely past its peak, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says.
After meeting with cabinet ministers on Monday afternoon, Ardern told media the Omicron peak is expected to be in mid-to-late March, which is six to eight weeks from now.
This modelling prediction is based on outbreaks in Victoria and New South Wales in Australia.
Ardern said she could not give an exact date as to when vaccine passport mandates or the traffic light system will start to change, but said it will be done when they are confident the peak is over and the health system is under control.
Ardern finished with a message for anti-mandate protestors who have been occupying Parliament’s lawn for 14 days.
“Everyone is over Covid-19. No one wants to live with rules or restrictions,” she said.
“But had we not all been willing to work together to protect one another, then we all would have been worse off as individuals, including losing people we love. That hasn’t happened here for the most part, and that is a fact worth celebrating rather than protesting.”
Ardern said everyone wants to go back to the way life was. “And we will. I suspect sooner than you think.”
“But when that happens, it will be because easing restrictions won’t compromise the lives of thousands of people. Not because you demanded it.
“Now is not the time to dismantle our hard work and preparation, to remove our armour just as the battle begins.”
Minister of Finance Grant Robertson also announced new support for businesses that are struggling to operate under the red light setting, for example, hospitality and events.
A new Covid-19 Support Payment will mean $4000 will be allocated per eligible business and $400 per full-time employee. This will be capped at 50 employees or $24,000.
“It will be available on a fortnightly basis for six weeks – so three payments in total,” he said in a press release on Monday.
“This reflects the international experience that the peak of the Omicron outbreak should pass after about six weeks. We will continue to closely monitor the situation and have the option to extend the payment if this is necessary.”
Applicants must show a 40 percent drop in seven consecutive days within the six weeks before the shift to Phase 2 of the Omicron response on February 15. This is a higher threshold than previous Covid-19 support packages.
Robertson said this is because they want to target who has been hit the hardest.
Applications for the first payment open on February 28, with payments starting from March 1.
Revenue Minister David Parker said changes were also being made to the Small Business Cashflow Loans Scheme to increase the amount of funding available to eligible businesses through the introduction of a ‘top up’ loan.
“The top-up loan will allow those firms that have already accessed a loan to draw down an additional $10,000 with a new repayment period of five years and the first two years being interest-free,” he said.
“Cabinet has also agreed to remove the first two years of accrued base interest from all borrowers who have, or will, take out a loan under the scheme. This change will mean interest will only start accruing at the beginning of year three.”
Any businesses struggling to pay tax because of the impacts of Covid-19 should log on to myIR to see if they can delay starting payments to a later date, or if any part of the tax could be written off. IR can help with both GST and provisional tax due.
Top Image: Person scanning in with the Covid-19 tracer app. (File photo) Photo: Supplied
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