Clayton Mitchell New Zealand First MP

I hope the Queen's Birthday Weekend gave all of us the opportunity to spend time with our families and visit our local tourist sites.

New Zealand's tourism industry definitely needs all the support it can get. The COVID-19 lockdown has devastated it.

However, during the long weekend the industry received enough reasons to be hopeful. On Monday, New Zealand marked its 10th straight day without any new positive COVID-19 case.

At the same time, at the time of writing there is only one active COVID-19 case left in the country. There are also no more patients infected with the virus in any of our hospitals.

This is an achievement we should all pat ourselves in the back for. It is clear that the sacrifices we made collectively under Alert Levels 3 and 4 have spared us from the catastrophic scenarios faced by the likes of the United States, Brazil, or the UK.

We have prevented a health crisis; our efforts should now be focused on the impending economic challenges ahead.

This is why New Zealand First strongly believes that it is now time for us to move into Alert Level 1. It is very unlikely that there is undetected community transmission taking place in the country by now, and there have been no new outbreaks reported since Alert Level 3.

Hence, the restrictions we are currently subjected to under the present Alert Level 2 seems to be an overkill. Restaurants and cafes are forced to implement social distancing inside their establishments, decreasing the number of customers they can accommodate at once.

At the same time events can only have a maximum of 100 participants, placing a heavy burden on event management businesses. Our cherished social gatherings such as weddings and funerals also become impeded by these restrictions.

It would be understandable if we still recorded new COVID-19 cases, but we have surpassed an entire week without seeing any new confirmed case of the virus.

Thus it only creates an unfair cost to our businesses to continue implementing these restrictions. New Zealand should be moved to Alert Level 1 now, with our business establishments operating normally once again.

Physical distancing, frequent handwashing, and common sneezing or coughing etiquettes should still and always be observed. These guidelines can be followed without any regulations forced on our businesses.

Alert Level 4 averted a health emergency, we should now move to Alert Level 1 to prevent the economic crisis that is happening. We want our businesses to be resilient and thriving to save jobs and ensure the stable flow of economic activity.