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COVID business pain By Alesha Capone Wyndham businesses and organisations are bracing for the fallout of Victoria’s latest snap lockdown. Hoppers Club chief executive Michael Lewis said the organisation’s two venues, at Hoppers Crossing and the Bacchus Marsh Golf Clubhouse, stood to lose about $100,000 in revenue during the seven-day ‘circuit-breaker’ lockdown. Of the 60 employees who worked across the two sites, most have been stood down or are using annual leave for the duration of the lockdown. “We’re extremely concerned about the impact the lockdown is having on the health and wellbeing of staff and we have offered them counselling,” Mr Lewis said.
‘‘
I don’t know if I want to keep trying
’’
- Carolyn Coffey
Carolyn Coffey, who runs Coffey on Watton in Werribee, said it was “heartbreaking” to see the impact multiple lockdowns have had on the cafe she had dreamed of opening for 40 years. Ms Coffey said it had been a struggle since she opened the business on March 16 last year. At the time, her staff did not qualify for JobKeeper payments and instead had to go on JobSeeker, which was “very hard” for them. She said that after lockdowns, customers tended to be cautious about returning to cafes and eateries. “I don’t know if I want to keep trying, part of me just doesn’t know,” she said. The Park Werribee hotel owner Nick Christou said the uncertainty of lockdown, plus the state government’s “multiple failures” on quarantine, was “hard and frustrating”. “I’m trying to reboot my team of 30 staff,” he said. “Now we’re going into a period where they’re not earning any income and if they can’t work, they can’t pay their mortgage or rent.” Mr Christou said he was grateful for his “strong loyal team” of employees who understood the situation caused by COVID. He said that the state government announcing the lockdown on a Thursday
Hadi Chami, outside Notorious Espresso cafe, helped launch a campaign to promote local businesses before the state was plunged into a seven-day ‘circuit-breaker’ lockdown. (Supplied/Imran Abul Kashem, Westend Photography)
meant most hospitality businesses had to throw away the food purchased for weekend trade. “You spend thousands and thousands on food that gets discarded because you go into lockdown,” he said. Werribee Business and Tourism Association (WBTA) chair Hadi Chami, who is also owner of Notorious Espresso in Werribee, said the lockdown had put many businesses “back at square one”.
“Everyone was ready for winter and putting on extra staff, but now we are back to how we were,” he said. “If it [lockdown] goes longer than a week it might be a struggle for some businesses.” Committee for Wyndham chief executive Barbara McLure said that the organisation would be encouraging its members to apply for the state government’s $250 million support package for businesses affected by the
lockdown. Yesterday question marks loomed over whether the state would exit lockdown on Friday. Victoria recorded three new cases of COVID-19 overnight on Monday, bringing the number of cases in this outbreak to 54. There are more than 300 exposure sites. ■ Exposure
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