The original Covid-19 catch phrase was "stay home, save lives", but an economist says the new slogan should be "wear a mask, save the economy".
Christina Leung told TVNZ1's Breakfast this morning to reduce the risk of further lockdowns everyone in New Zealand needed to endure "small personal inconveniences", including wearing a face mask, washing hands well and keeping track of where you've been for contact tracing.
It comes after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced an extension to Auckland's Level 3 lockdown yesterday, as well as the rest of the country to remain at Level 2. The current alert levels will last until 11.59am Sunday.
Gatherings in Auckland will be limited to 10 unless you're in a managed environment while masks will be mandatory on public transport nationwide at Level 2 and above. (Source: Other)
However, Auckland's already suffered the past couple of weeks in its second lockdown since the pandemic began.
According to Stats NZ, while all 16 regions saw retail sales fall for the June quarter, Auckland had the largest dollar value fall - down 13 per cent ($1.2 billion).
Ms Leung predicted a $140-200 million loss for Auckland in retail spending just in the first two weeks of the current lockdown, and with the added four days another $40-60 million.
"If you look at the other supporting industries that support the retail sector and also events, those are the ones that will be the most severely impacted."
She added that uncertainty was playing on business operators' minds at the moment too, with a sharp decline in business confidence and investment intentions.
Phil Goff says the move is necessary to avoid a Victoria-style outbreak. (Source: Other)
"The fact that we've already got this uncertainty heading into a general election, and now with the added uncertainty of not knowing what alert levels we're going to be in from say one week to next, it makes it very hard for businesses to be planning ahead.
"When we look at how we can reduce this uncertainty over the longer run, we really need to think about ways on which we can reduce the risk of having to enter another lockdown.
"Things such as small personal inconveniences, such as wearing a mask, washing you hands, keeping track of where are so that it makes it easier for contact tracing if required down the track," Ms Leung said.
The Prime Minister made the decision after a Cabinet meeting this afternoon. (Source: Other)
"By taking on these small personal inconveniences then we avoid that risk of having that large economic cost of shutting a large part of the economy down the track. That is the trade off, if you like, that we're facing at the moment. By doing these small steps now, we can avoid a much larger cost down the track."
Ms Leung said when Covid-19 gets into the community there are "no good options anymore", because doing nothing would likely see positive cases accelerate and there's a risk business won't be able to operate normally anyway, or shutting down a large part of the economy early on at a huge cost.
However, following the first nationwide lockdown, Kiwis had been getting out and spending again, so Ms Leung said the focus needs to be on how to minimise risk of returning to lockdown.
"During the lockdown we had the catch cry 'stay home, save lives', perhaps the new catch cry in these times needs to be 'wear a mask, save the economy' because it is really by reducing the uncertainty so that we can operate normally."
The Prime Minister says people can choose what type of face covering they wear. (Source: Other)
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