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Support falls short The latest COVID-19 lockdown has taken a toll on traders across Melton and Moorabool. While hospitality venues and retailers do their best to adapt to the fast-changing lockdown rules, they say government assistance falls short of the mounting costs of perished produce and a plunge in trade. Baby Black Espresso Bar in Bacchus Marsh swung into take-away mode to eke out some earnings during the latest snap lockdown. Owner Matt Bellman said he appreciated the state government has difficult decisions to make, but said the support falls far short of the impact on small businesses. “I think the right people are making the right decisions and it’s based on science,” he said. “Any help is always welcome, but it is far from making up for the losses.” Mr Bellman said the local community has been a great support, but even with a loyal following “you have to sell a lot of $4 coffees” to help stem the losses. “Whatever we’re allowed to do we do … We’ve got 28 staff so we try and keep going as much as we can for them.” Mr Bellman welcomed Friday’s easing of restrictions for regional Victoria, which includes Bacchus Marsh, but lamented the dramatic drop in trade from customers from Melton and greater Melbourne.
MATT BELLMAN
Lockdown waiting game By Benjamin Millar Melton and Moorabool will remain split for the foreseeable future as Victoria nervously awaits an announcement on whether the COVID-19 lockdown is eased this week. Health Minister Martin Foley, chief health officer Brett Sutton and COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar used a press conference on Monday to signal their caution against easing restrictions too quickly and risking a dramatic increase in the number of active coronavirus cases in the community.
Mr Weimar said 11 new positive cases took the number in this outbreak to 81, including three people in hospital, with more than 350 public exposure sites. He said there have been more than 550,000 tests since the start of the outbreak two weeks ago, but the next days are critical. Professor Sutton said although people want to know what things will look like in three days’ time, there remain too many variables to be certain. He acknowledged that it had been “supremely challenging” for businesses to survive the
impact of lockdowns, and that remains part of the broader consideration of decision makers. “I don’t want to get to the point we open up and it’s out of control,” he said. Melton residents are nearing two full weeks of lockdown, with the five reasons to leave home still remaining and the radius people are able to travel for exercise and shopping now expanded to 10 kilometres. Year 11 and 12 students have returned to face-to-face learning and more outdoor jobs have been added to the authorised list. Restrictions were eased in Moorabool last
Friday, including a return to school for all students, public gatherings increased to 10 people and restaurants and cafés reopening to a maximum of 50 people. Acting Premier James Merlino said businesses that are open in regional Victoria but closed in Melbourne such as restaurants or beauty are required to check the IDs of everyone they serve. The metro Melbourne lockdown is scheduled to expire at 11.59pm Thursday. ■ More
COVID coverage: Pages 4 & 5
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