Christchurch department store closes due to Omicron risk – FBC News

Ballantynes department store in Christchurch closed for three days due to COVID-19 risk.

This is when the city prepares for the spread of the highly transmissible variant of Omicron.

Although the Cashel Mall store is not a place of interest, Ballantynes has closed until Monday due to the risk of having thousands of shoppers in the store during a weekend sale.

Ballantynes chief executive Maria O’Halloran said she made the decision after four new cases of coronavirus emerged in Christchurch.

“Like other events that have unfortunately been canceled across the country, I don’t want to put the public and our team at any risk should there be any cases in our environment over the next few days, with thousands of people in the store,” she said.

“The variant has not been confirmed, however, out of an abundance of caution, we have proactively moved to this stage.”

Two of the four people with the virus are from the same household.

Health officials are investigating any links to previous cases and have listed a pharmacy in Waltham and Christchurch Airport as places of interest.

While she understands the move could shake business confidence in CBD, O’Halloran said Ballantynes’ closure was temporary.

“It’s a decision we have to make based on how many we attract. I’m sure they would understand that they wouldn’t want to see an outbreak of cases in CBD. If we can do our part to mitigate that, we will,” she said.

O’Halloran said she had not calculated the estimated cost to the business of closing the Christchurch store over the sales weekend.

Ballantynes made the announcement to customers in a statement on Thursday evening.

“Due to the evolving nature of community cases of Covid-19 in Christchurch, it is with heavy hearts that we announce that we have made the decision to cancel in-store availability of The Sale at our Christchurch store,” says the press release.

“The sale is an important event on Canterbury’s calendar and we appreciate it will cause some disappointment, however, we have made this decision with the safety of our staff and the Ballantynes community in mind.”

Ballantyne’s Timaru store will open as usual, but staff will closely monitor the number of customers in the store.

Ferry Road Pharmacy has twice been listed as a place of interest but is not linked to a suspected case of Omicron at this stage.

Anyone who visited the pharmacy on January 24 between 3:30 and 4 p.m. and on January 27 between 8:45 and 8:55 a.m. should self-monitor for symptoms of Covid-19 for 10 days.

Christchurch Airport was previously listed as a place of interest on January 24 between 9:10 a.m. and 9:40 a.m. and 5 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

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