Associate Health Minister, Ayesha Verrall this morning confirmed a new Covid case has been confirmed overnight. This brings the total of Covid cases in New Zealand to twenty two.
The new confirmed case had been a patient at North Shore Hospital in Auckland.
Cabinet will meet at 1:00PM today to determine if there will be any changes to the Alert Level 4 which is currently in place for the whole country.
On Tuesday evening the government announced that Auckland and Coromandel would be in lockdown Level 4 for 7 days and the rest of New Zealand would be at Level 4 for 3 days.
As a reminder, it is mandatory for masks to be worn by anyone aged over 12 when visiting shops, petrol stations, pharmacies and other essential services. Staff in these places will also be required to wear a mask.
Mask wearing is mandatory for bus terminals and in taxis as well.
Police can issue infringements to those who are not wearing a mask under new alert Level 4 rules.
Whilst theoretically possible police can arrest people who do not comply, however this is considered to be a last resort option.
Today businesses can apply for subsidies to support their businesses if they have been affected by the Level 4 lockdown.
The wage subsidy has been adjusted to reflect the increase of wages since the first Level 4 Lockdown in March 2020. This means businesses will be eligible as follows:
Full-time equivalent employees, $600.00 per week
Part-time equivalent employees, $359.00 per week.
Employers can apply for a wage subsidy on Friday, 20 August. The first payments should be made after three days and will be paid as a two-week lump sum.
The government has also made available the Resurgence Support Payment. This is available to businesses who incur a loss of 30 percent of revenue from the Lockdown conditions. The payments are up to $1,500.00 plus $400.00 per full time equivalent employee, up to a maximum of 50 full time employees. The total which a business could expect would be up to $21,500.00.
For businesses who have staff that cannot work from home and must self isolate, the government offers, the Leave Support Scheme. The scheme provides a two-week lump sum payment of either $585.80 per week for full-time workers, or $350 per week for part-time workers.
Another payment which businesses may qualify for is, the Short-Term Absence Payment which provides a one-off (once per 30 days) $350 payment. This is businesses that have workers who must not attend work due to a COVID-19 test and cannot work from home.
Further information and criteria is available from Work and Income.
https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/covid-19/leave-support-scheme/who-can-get-it.html
