Carrying on for community despite Covid-19 case

The Batch Cafe barista Grace Holland and co-owner Gareth Hamilton will continue to provide a...
The Batch Cafe barista Grace Holland and co-owner Gareth Hamilton will continue to provide a caffeine fix to the Invercargill community after being given the all-clear from the Ministry of Health. Photo: Abbey Palmer
An Invercargill cafe in a building identified as a source of Covid-19 is reassuring its customers it has been given the green light by health officials to remain open.

The Batch Cafe is in the same building as Findex Invercargill, which in a statement yesterday confirmed one of its staff was forced to self-quarantine after being tested positive for Covid-19 - the city’s first case.

The man was named today as Southland Chamber of Commerce board president and Findex managing partner Neil McAra.

The community hot-spot co-owner Kate French said the person affected was a valued customer and had visited its premises briefly on Monday and Tuesday.

However, they did not dine in, were there very briefly and had ordered coffee via the Regulr mobile application.

This meant they did not make a payment in person or wait in line but simply collected the coffee off the counter, she said.

‘‘We are confident our staff have not been sufficiently exposed for any concern.

‘‘We have discussed these events with our team and are taking all recommended precautions in regards to keeping both you [customers] and ourselves safe.’’

Mrs French said it was important for the business to continue to provide stability to the community following the announcement the virus had reached the southern city.

‘‘The Ministry of Health [MOH] rung us yesterday and the advice we were given was to remain open.

‘‘We want to help people to hold on to something normal, even if it’s as simple as coming in to get a coffee.’’

While staff were closely following MOH guidelines to prevent the spread of the virus, still being able to ‘‘provide some solace’’ for the community was a priority, she said.

‘‘At the moment the government has not instructed us to close, we’re going to stay open until we are asked to do otherwise and just take it day-by-day.’’

The response from customers, since the announcement was made on their social media they would stay open, had been ‘‘99.9 per cent positive’’, she said.

If customers did not want to come into the cafe, they could either ring up and order their coffee and food or do it via the Regulr app.

‘‘We can always leave coffees on the table outside or bring it out to their car.

‘‘Without creating hysteria it’s about being more careful and thinking about what we can do to ease the stress of the community, it’s multi-faceted.’’

  - abbey.palmer@odt.co.nz

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