Night clubs and wedding venues are the last to recover from the lockdown, and Monday's alert level extension has delayed the hospitality industry's battle for survival.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that Auckland's alert level 2.5 restrictions and the rest of New Zealand's level 2 restrictions will remain in place until at least next week.
For Johnny Mantell - manager of Auckland function venue Mantell's - he says his venue is under threat again.
"It's been totally brutal," he said.
For 30 days and counting, the tailored level 2.5 for Auckland has put a cap on gatherings to 10. It's meant no weddings, no big birthday parties, no conferences and no business for Mantell and his venue.
"We need to get to level 1 to be able to operate, really. It's just a waiting game for us," he said.
Even the night clubs that can let people sit inside are operating at nearly half of what they normally would, which adds to the punch for Longroom owner Richard Bagnall.
"The wage subsidy came off for us on Sunday night so we now need to manage our business a lot tighter than previously," he said.
The battling hospitality industry hasn't had any targeted assistance from the Government. They're pleading for help and back a scheme where the Government foots the bill for half the price of everyone's meal on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays - similar to what happens in the UK.
The pain is felt in New Zealand's arts sector too.
The Auckland Theatre company has decided to cancel its major musical production, saying "it needs our entire theatre to be on sale and selling for it to work financially".
So while hospitality is left in limbo for another week, the waiting game continues for Longroom and the DJ it still employs.
But another weekend of seated revellers is another brutal blow for a battered industry.
