Every bar, restaurant customer must sign in under hospitality coronavirus guidelines

Brian from New Lynn

Yesterday, the brunch rush slowed to a dribble. Beach Babylon is normally packed to the rafters, but now, barely a bruncher in sight. It's still taking precautions. Beach Babylon owner Maura Rigby says the establishment is taking the illness seriously and has spaced out its tables. Last night it was a different story in Auckland. Social distancing was out the window as punters gathered in the city's bars for Friday night beers. But the Government says stop. "If you cannot go out and maintain two metres from others, then don't," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says. Unlike the United Kingdom, our Government won't require close-downs, instead, it's released guidelines for hospitality providers.
To help with contact tracing, bars, restaurants, and cafes are being told to collect the full name, address, email address and phone number of every single customer as well as noting down the date and time they visited. Panhead Wellington has already started. Its owner Matt McLaughlin has a nightclub and he's already doing it there too. "I had my security staff standing there with a form. People are just going to have fill them out. It means there is a bit of a queue at the door, but we gotta do what we gotta do," he says. They'll also be required to do headcounts ensuring there are no more than 100 people on-premise - including staff, move tables a metre apart, and move any pokies machines a metre apart too. "We are in the fight for our lives, we know that. Any restriction is going to make things even more difficult to operate, but we are a socially responsible industry, and we know its the right thing to do," said McLaughlin. While they are labelled guidelines, these are effectively hard and fast rules. The Minister of Health Dr David Clark told he has the power under the Health Act to shut down any establishment if they are risking public safety - and if he hears of anyone flouting the rules, he's not afraid to do so.
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