New Zealand will enter Level Four of the Covid-19 Alert system at midnight on Wednesday. This means that from midnight Wednesday all Kiwis will have to stay at home and cannot go to work unless the are considered an essential worker. All non-essential businesses (eg. bars and restaurants) are to close.
Supermarket workers, pharmacists, teachers, doctors and nurses, ambulance officers, police officers, Defence Force personnel and journalists are all counted as essential workers.
A full list of essential workers can be found on the government’s Covid-19 website.
Also included are accommodation providers that are required for people in self-isolation or quarantine, staff at the border, and people working in courts and the justice system.
Essential businesses and those that support them will continue to provide necessities for everyone in New Zealand. Food, healthcare, energy, internet, waste collection and financial support will always be available. They must have health measures and contact tracing in place to operate.
Freight and courier drivers are also considered essential workers as they transport and deliver food. Grocery food deliveries such as My Food Bag and Hello Fresh are considered as essential and will continue.
Currently some takeaway services are running, but when level 4 kicks in, all takeaway services must close their operations.
McDonald’s New Zealand has said that rolling closures across its 170 restaurants would begin tonight, with all restaurants and services, including McDelivery and Drive-Thru, suspended from 8pm Wednesday March 25.
Dominoes have said its Meals for Seniors initiative will continue to allow those over the age of 70 to order one meal per week, per household.
