AUS
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Highlights
- Retailers are concerned about the new Delta variant, which is potentially more transmissible.
- The government urged to clarify what qualifies as an essential service, amidst the Level 4 lockdown announcement.
- Prime Minister says it is important to learn from international experiences and control the spread before it spirals.
Retail stocks in the country undoubtedly have faced some of the worst times due to COVID-19 in the past year and a half. Border closures and lockdowns across the world mean that companies are not able to move their stocks. The general trend shift of customers becoming more comfortable with online shopping is also something that has caused long-term concerns for retailers.
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While New Zealand has been able to handle the crisis exceptionally well by becoming one of the first countries to control the disease, the looming threat of the Delta variant and the third wave has brought back concerns in the minds of retail company owners.
Clarity demanded on essential goods
Retailers have demanded clarity on what is considered to be essential goods and what can be sold online, according to the latest report.
In a press conference held on Tuesday, Prime Minister confirmed the locally transmitted COVID-19 case while announcing a three-day nationwide lockdown. She further said that assuming that was the Delta variant, the country was put to be under a strict level 4 lockdown, why all businesses except pharmacies in supermarkets, basically the essentials, shall remain closed.
She further expressed concerns over the highly transmissible Delta variant, but said that the country was learning through the experiences of other countries, and action is needed to be taken in order to prevent it from spreading further.
Travel bubble suspended
With the travel bubble with Australia also put on hold for an 8-week period, the country has been taking all necessary precautions to prevent and limit the number of cases.
While the country has been praised far and wide for its ability to control the virus ever since the first wave started, the process of vaccination in New Zealand has been notably slow.
Bottom Line
Even according to the current data collected by CNN, merely 20% of its total population is completely vaccinated. There is a need to expedite this process in order to safeguard the population further before the arrival of the said third wave, which is said to be potentially more dangerous and could harm the economy and trade along with the health and wellness of the people.
