The alert level 4 safety measures are designed to eradicate and eliminate COVID-19 in our country, says Paul Stocks, the deputy CEO for the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment.
“Life under alert 4, will not be the same under alerts 1, 2, or even 3.”
The deputy CEO said that keeping essential services is not a matter of normality, but rather an essential measure to getting rid of COVID-19.
He then went through what constitutes an essential service.
“If you are in doubt if you are an essential service, you’re probably not,” Stocks says.
A complete list of the essential services are listed on the COVID-19 website.
The essential sectors with their relevant authorities are listed as below:
- Accommodation – lMBIE
- Border – Customs
- Building and construction – MBIE
- Courts, tribunals and the justice system – Ministry of Justice
- Education – MOE
- Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) – MBIE
- Financial services – Financial Markets Authority (FMA) and the Reserve Bank
- Health – Ministry of Health
- Local and national government – Department of Internal Affairs and State Services Commission (SSC)
- Primary industries, including food and beverage production and processing – MPI
- Public safety and national security – National Emergency Management Agency
- Science – MBIE
- Social services – MSD and Oranga Tamariki
- Transport and logistics – Ministry of Transport
- Utilities and communications, including supply chains – MBIE and Ministry for Culture and Heritage (for broadcasting)
An 0800 number will be available later on in the day to help businesses confirm if they are essential or not.
Strangely enough, the deputy CEO was unable to confirm if bottle shops and bakeries were an essential service.
The Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard confirmed that Parliament will be convening to debate and confirm any unresolved issues.