Invercargill MP Penny Simmonds has slammed the Government for continuing Alert Level 2 while Southland businesses are "hanging in the balance".

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Monday that level 3 restrictions for Auckland will be relaxed to allow friend and families to meet outdoors.

But there was disappointment for South Island business owners who'd hoped for a downgrade, with the only change being the removal of the 100-person cap on customers at venues.

National Party MP Simmonds, yesterday, said "picnics and playdates" for Aucklanders will do little to ease the anxiety of Southland business owners.

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"The Government needs to understand that it cannot remain as relaxed and confident anymore about the economy’s resilience if it’s not going to offer businesses a clear, forward-looking plan," Simmonds said. 

"More and more retail and hospitality businesses say they can’t go on pumping their own hard-earned personal savings into keeping their businesses afloat amid this kind of uncertainty."

But Invercargill's Labour-list MP Dr Liz Craig says the outbreak in Waikato, where there are now nine cases, demonstrates the need for the higher alert level.

Dr Craig says with businesses "doing it tough" and no community cases in Southland for more than a year, one of the most common questions she's asked is 'why are we still at Alert Level 2?'

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"The main reason is to ensure that, should someone with the highly-transmissible Delta variant cross the Cook Strait, Covid-19 doesn’t rapidly spread here," Dr Craig says.

Should a case occur here, "being at Alert Level 2 will increase the chances we can get ahead of any outbreak with testing and contact tracing, rather than having to revert to lengthy lockdown restrictions", she says.

Invercargill-based Labour MP Dr Liz Craig

One major casualty Monday's announcement has been the Southland Chamber of Commerce's 2021 Southland Business Excellence Awards.

The 600-person event was set to be held at Bill Richardson Transport World on Friday, 15 October, but has been postponed because there was confusion over whether the removal of the 100-person cap included events venues.

Chamber boss Sheree Carey says Monday's announcement did not provide clear guidelines, or respite, for the events industry.

"It was extremely confusing and not helpful," Carey says. "We are obviously frustrated and disappointed."

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The rules has since been clarified - there's now no cap on any venues, both indoor and outdoor.

Dr Craig says the Government has also signalled that as vaccination rates rise, other tools will be added to the toolbox which will reduce our reliance on restrictions in future.  

So the most important thing Southland residents can do for local businesses is to get vaccinated, she says. So far, 50% of Invercargill's residents have had both jabs.

"The next week and a half is critical. We need to pull out all the stops to increase our vaccination rates. It has never been more urgent"

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She's also encouraging businesses to explore the Government support available, at https://www.business.govt.nz/covid-19/, if they haven't done so already.

You can visit bookmyvaccine.nz or phone 0800 28 29 26 to book your vaccination.