Covid-19: Government gives Auckland New Year's Eve parties the orange light

Monday, 13 December 2021

All areas in the red Covid traffic light regions, excluding Northland, will move into orange from 11.59pm on December 30.

New Year’s Eve parties across Tāmaki Makaurau are set to go ahead as the Government loosens Covid-19 restrictions at the end of December. But SkyTower's firework display is still cancelled.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Monday that the Auckland region will move to the orange light setting under the Covid-19 Protection Framework at 11.59pm on December 30.

Other areas currently in red, apart from Northland, will also move to orange at the same time.

There was “cautious optimism” in Auckland due to the lower cases being seen in the region and good news “for all of us” ahead of the border opening this Thursday, she said.

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“Some will ultimately say this decision today feels right, some will say it’s too slow, others too fast. So instead I come back to the two years perspective.

“For the second year in a row, we finish the year with measures that matter: the lowest cases, hospitalisations and deaths in the OECD and the opportunity to have a summer break with comparatively low rate of Covid-19,” she said.

New Zealand’s eligible population is just over 41,000 second doses away from hitting 90 per cent fully vaccinated, Ardern said.

Under orange, events using vaccine passes can have unlimited guests, but SkyCity Entertainment Group – which announced in November that the annual New Year's Eve fireworks display from SkyTower was cancelled – confirmed on Monday that the event would not go ahead.

Richard Clarke – Director Arts, Entertainment and Events at Auckland Unlimited – said the organisation had worked with SkyCity, Auckland Unlimited, Auckland Council and police on delivering a New Year’s Eve event with health and safety as a priority.

“Ultimately we had to make a call at a certain date, with the information we had at that time,” he said.

Auckland will move to orange traffic light setting at 11.59pm on December 30.

“On 29 November, 2021, all parties agreed that under the Government’s new Covid-19 Protection Framework, SkyCity’s traditional New Year’s Eve Fireworks event could not proceed.”

There was “no viable way” of checking vaccine passes if crowds gathered to watch the fireworks.

Heart of the City chief executive Viv Beck said the move to orange would be “really important” for many hospitality operators, the event sector and other businesses in Auckland.

“This would give event organisers certainty, get the hospitality sector operating at full capacity and give more confidence to attract visitors,” Beck said.

Despite a rise in spending and foot traffic in central Auckland since the new system was introduced, it was not enough for businesses which had “faced major restrictions for so long”, she said.

There hadn’t been “significant bounce back” across the board and forward bookings for tourism, hospitality and accommodation providers were “soft for January”.

“It’s very concerning for businesses staring down the barrel of a quieter period until workers and visitors return.”