Many Waikato residents are excited to learn that their region will finally be open for business at 11:59PM Tuesday night after six weeks of lockdown.
Matthew Pedley owner of Mr Pickles Bar and Eatery in Hamilton said, “It’s amazing. I think it’s great for businesses here in Waikato, in hospitality particularly. They’ve been really crying out for a while for some support so it should come at a much-needed time.”
Hamilton Mayor Paula Southgate said the move was good news. “There’s a lot of common sense things that can prevail at this time just to keep those numbers low, because if they start to climb again, the government may well come in and take this new-found freedom from us.”
Allan Sanson, Mayor of Waikato District was surprised and very happy with the alert level change. He is encouraging locals to get out and support the business community, especially the hospitality sector. Sanson said he will be celebrating by taking his wife out for dinner.
“I’m still concerned about the cases we’re getting, but at the end of the day, as I’ve said to Wellington for the last two weeks, I feel they are manageable. They haven’t got any worse. They’re pretty consistent,” said Sanson.
Vaccination rates for the Waikato region sat at 88.8 percent of the of the eligible population for a first dose and 78.5 percent for the second dose.
