Kiwi Level 4 lockdown extended

New Zealand printers currently under lockdown will have to wait until at least Wednesday before they can get back to work, with the Level Four lockdown there extended across the whole country for another four days.

The Kiwi commercial print industry had to largely close on Tuesday as the government put the country in Level Four, with Auckland and Coromandel initially given a seven day lockdown, while the rest of the country was given three days of lockdown, which ended today. Now the whole country is in Level 4 lockdown until Tuesday.

Under Level 4 print that is directly necessary for the essential supply chain, Covid related print, and some news publication printing are exempted from the lockdown.

There was one case of Covid in New Zealand initially, that number has now risen to 31, most in Auckland, but now also three in Wellington. Prime minister Jacinta Ardern said the cabinet will meet on Monday to decide if further lockdowns are needed, or if restrictions can be scaled back to Level 3, in which case all printing would be on again.

Ruth Cobb, CEO of employers’ association PrintNZ said: “Under Level 4  printing is permitted for FMCG, and for Covid-related work, information and graphics, along with news media. But if you print that work you can’t print other jobs once you have done that.”

PrintNZ advises that only businesses providing print to essential services, such as food and beverage packaging and healthcare, can continue to operate. It says "at this point, if you are unsure if you provide an essential service, then you should probably close. If you are a part of the supply chain for essential services, then you are able to continue to operate."

The association says that if printers do remain open they can only do the work that is part of the essential supply chain. It says they cannot undertake non-essential work while they are there, which may mean reduced hours.

Newspapers are still printing, in the last Level 4 lockdown PrintNZ lobbied hard for their continuation, particularly ethnic language and community papers. Under Level 4 children, that is anyone under 18, cannot be involved in distribution. Cobb says, “Many community papers are switching to bulk distribution instead, dropping piles at service stations and the like.”

Print businesses locked down for seven days are able to trigger the Wage Subsidy Scheme, which supports eligible employers who experience a revenue loss of more than 40 per cent. The payment has been increased to $600 for a full-time employee and $359 for a part time employee. This would be paid in a two-week lump sum.

The Resurgence Support Payment through the IRD is also in play, which applies to a 30 per cent loss of revenue, and is up to $1500, plus $400 per employee up to a maximum of 50 employees.

Applications for both from printers in Auckland and Coromondel are open form today, and form next Tuesday for the.....

The Kiwi lockdown is far stricter for business than those in Australian states, where printers are largely open for business, under Covid-safe protocols. The last time New Zealand was in level four 15 months ago the country’s biggest magazine publisher Bauer Media closed the whole business, as it could not print any of its magazines. It was eventually bought by Webstar owner Mercury Capital.

PrintNZ has provided the following advice to its members who are printing for in Level 4:

• Staff must be able to work 2 metres apart.
• You will need to have in place strict hygiene protocols and provide appropriate PPE for all workers. This will require additional wiping down of common touchpoints and surfaces.
• Avoid cross-contamination between shifts.
• Staff that are not required for production of essential services should stay home.
• Anyone that can, must work from home.
• Anyone that is sick should not come to work.
• All receiving and dispatching of product must be contactless.
• You should keep a register of everybody that visits your premises or have a way of ensuring that every person scans your QR code.
• You may want to consider splitting shifts and separating smoke areas so that staff don't overlap, providing you with a buffer if one of your staff should trigger a requirement for isolation.
• Ensure you display the appropriate posters reminding people to sign in, wash their hands, remain 2 metres apart, how to cough appropriately etc. You can download these posters by clicking here.