Primary sector officials are scrambling to ensure critical worker status is granted to staff and with it access to rapid antigen tests (RATs), after initial guidelines sowed doubt.
Initial announcements from the Prime Minister, director of health and associate health minister had industry officials uncertain of the sector’s worker status, with the critical worker title being applied to utility staff, health care workers and food supply chain staff.
Horticulture NZ had also expressed concern that the definition of critical worker was weighted towards those in the domestic food supply chain only.
Under the first lockdown two years ago, all primary sector workers were deemed essential and able to continue working throughout the period.
But Ministry for Primary Industry (MPI) director Ray Smith confirmed to Farmers Weekly that discussions with the sector’s largest industry groups has included measures to ensure there are enough workers available to support critical supply chains.
The Government has also established a critical workforce register and stated that critical workers include food supply and infrastructure.
A recently released flow chart identifies a critical business as one involved in “food production, distribution and sale”.
The register will be a first step to allocating the RATs to be allocated to those critical workers. These will enable them to shorten their time off work in event of coming into contact with the disease, isolating them for only seven days.
Smith said MPI has discussed preregistering some of the sector’s key companies on the register. It intends to work closely with industry leaders over the coming days to have more staff registered, prior to the wider register officially opening in a fortnight.
In the early stages of the country’s Omicron outbreak the primary sector has already felt the impact of the Government’s controversial decision to requisition imported RATs for distribution.
A number of Meat Industry Association (MIA) processing members had already invested in RATs, only to learn they will not be receiving the volumes ordered as a result of the Government move.
The meat industry overseas has reported absenteeism rates of 30-40% and such levels here would almost shut down a sector already hundreds of workers short nationally.
“As New Zealand’s largest manufacturing industry, our focus is now on ensuring our sector has the necessary volumes of tests from the Government or third-party suppliers to ensure our people can safely return to work at the earliest opportunity,” MIA chief executive Sirma Karapeeva said.
“This is critical so we can keep our supply chain open and continue processing food for New Zealand and our global markets.”
She said MPI has also confirmed the industry’s workers are classified as critical.
But while processors look secure in acquiring RAT access, discussions are still underway on how the country’s 30,000 farming operations will be categorised.
Federated Farmers president Andrew Hoggard said after meeting with MPI officials there was a sense RATs may be more suitable and committed to the processing/harvesting sector, while worker isolation and bubbles may be a better approach to manage farm outbreaks.
“We want to work through with MPI on some simpler way to ensure the potential ridiculous isolation period of up to 24 days does not have to happen,” Hoggard said.
He said the definition of what constituted a critical worker appeared to have taken time to develop, despite Omicron having been known about for some time.
DCANZ chief executive Kimberly Crewther said the dairy industry has been told by government it would work with the sector over coming weeks as the ‘test to return’ system is established.
“Our expectation is that dairy processing companies will be able to use that system. It’s important for ongoing operations and if we can’t continue to operate it, it’s not a simple thing because milk doesn’t stop,” Crewther said.
Horticulture NZ officials have also been stressing to government the impending crop harvests due in coming weeks as record volumes of grapes, apples, pears and kiwifruit ripen.
Seeka chief executive Michael Franks said based on his company’s Australian experience on its Victoria orchards, it could expect 20-30% absenteeism based on a seven-day isolation period.
