A Kiwi chef and restaurant owner based in England is considering shutting up shop and returning to New Zealand amid the introduction of new lockdown rules.
England is starting a month of strict stay-at-home orders amid soaring Covid-19 rates, with local officials saying they will come down hard on anyone who breaches the new rules.
Several people were arrested following an anti-lockdown protest in London, while those working at hospitals are forced to reckon with the pressure, staffing shortages and increasingly difficult circumstances.
“We know in certain parts of the country, the number of coronavirus patients the hospitals are looking after is already significantly over the number that they were having to cope with during the April 1st peak,” National Health Service Chief Executive Simon Stevens said.
Jeff Tyler, a Hawke’s Bay-born chef and restaurant owner in London’s Mayfair, is calling it quits amid the pandemic.
“Everything’s pointing, ‘Jeff, let's go back to New Zealand,’” he said.
Tyler reopened his business after restrictions eased in September, but he’s now been forced to once again shut his shop down.
“It has been a tough decision,” he said. “Morally, I feel an obligation to stay here and stick it out.”
Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson is holding out hope an end is in sight.
“Four weeks is enough for these measures to make a real impact, so these rules will expire and on the 2nd of December, we plan to move back to a tiered approach,” Johnson said.
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