The Restaurant Association is calling for people to continue dining out as eateries face the challenge of Omicron spreading in the community.
Health officials reported a record 306 new Covid-19 cases in the community on Thursday.
The association’s chief executive Marisa Bidois said about 78 per cent of its members, who responded to a survey, were reporting lower patronage numbers than usual.
“It’s been a tough few years for our sector and this behavioural shift at red level, treating it as a lockdown, is something we’re really not keen to see in our sector.”
Responding to recent reports of lower scanning rates, Bidois said she believed people were likely going out less which meant rates of QR code scanning had gone down.
“We’re really keen to encourage people to continue to dine out and to support their local business,” she said.
The chief executive said the Government should allow hospitality workers to leave isolation early, with a negative rapid antigen test result, if they become the contact of a case.
“The isolation requirements for our sector will most certainly see some businesses closing down," she said.
"In our sector, we do have small teams and we already have members experiencing a closure because half of their team is having to isolate.”
She said Kiwis could be “getting out and about” to help support local businesses.
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