In the last 10 consecutive days, no new case has been reported in the largest city of New Zealand.
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Arden, in absence of any fresh COVID case from the Auckland cluster in the last 10 days, made an announcement on 5th October 2020, moving the city to alert level 1 from 11:59 pm Wednesday onwards. This effectively means lifting all the lockdown restrictions placed earlier to contain the pandemic.
“There is now a 95% probability of the cluster being eliminated”, said Arden at a news conference on Monday. “COVID-19 will be with us for many months to come. But we should still mark these milestones.”
The scaling down in measures involves that the earlier 100-people limit on social gatherings in Auckland is no longer applicable, so the public places like bars, restaurants, sports stadiums, event venues, etc. can function without any social distancing norms in place. With the latest decision, Auckland is now eligible to join the rest of New Zealand in Covid-19 Alert Level 1.
Like various other sectors of the country, the business events industry has reacted positively to the latest announcement. The confidence is particularly palpable among the leaders from M.I.C.E industry and as such shared by Conventions and Incentives New Zealand(CINZ) chief-executive, Lisa Hopkins.
“The new announcement by Prime Minister Jacinda Arden dispels all confusion about who can meet and where. We have been given the green light to meet, with the country fully open up to domestic groups, and Aucklanders again welcome to any region.”
She further opined that, “Now is the time to rebuild the industry, and deliver confidence back to organisers who have been holding off planning and booking their events. Our message is it is safe to hold a conference, seminar , workshop, or team recognition event, we want people to understand that business events are the safest type of events that can be held, backed up by the World Health Organisation.”
BE Reconnected, a one-day business events industry showcase has been planned on 1st December, 2020 to help kickstart the business recovery. “A day of networking, knowledge and engagement” will be the main aims to hold the event.For fast-tracked recovery and long-term growth of the $5 billion sector of the country, BE Reconnected serves as a platform to highlight the contributions of the event industry and also to assist in rejuvenating the key industry relationships and forging new ties.
“BE Reconnected will be an essential platform to support the sector now and beyond. It is imperative for the good of the country and for the industry that we move safely, and with assurance.” Lisa Hopkins further added.
