With 168 cases locally acquired cases in the past week, the most since the second wave hit Victoria, cities Australia wide have been thrown into lockdown as the virulence of the Delta variant of the coronavirus continues to be felt around the nation.
Case numbers are expected to increase in the coming days with Greater Sydney, Central Coast, Wollongong and the Blue Mountains in lockdown until 9 July, Darwin in a sharp lockdown, along with Perth and Peel in Western Australia and a three day snap lockdown announced on Tuesday for eleven regions in Queensland. No one was in lockdown last week.
AHA NSW Director of Liquor and Policing John Green said, “We all worked hard to get back to some semblance of normality and that is gone now. Of course health comes first, and we are proud of the role we have played, but every effort needs to be made to minimise the risk of a lockdown happening again.
“We need to ensure quarantine and the processes surrounding it when it comes to front line workers are at world class standards and we need to get people vaccinated as soon as possible.”
On Tuesday, the NSW government announced that grants would be made available for casual workers and businesses hit by the lockdown with the process of accessing the grants to be kept as simple as possible and with cash accessible from 19 July.
The package includes grants of between $5,000 and $10,000 for small businesses, payroll tax deferrals for all employers, an extension of the Dine & Discover program to 31 August. The vouchers will also be able to be used for takeaway delivered directly to homes by the venue itself.
NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the small business grants would be available for sole traders and non-for-profit organisations, with expanded criteria to assist most hospitality and tourism operators hit hard by the restrictions during school holidays.
The Hospitality and Tourism COVID-19 Support Grant is available to tourism or hospitality businesses that have a turnover of more than $75,000 and an annual Australian wages bill of below $10 million, as at 1 July 2020.
“The NSW economy rebounded strongly from the challenges of 2020 and we’re taking action to ensure we keep that going. We are deploying our fiscal firepower when it matters, by helping small businesses stay in business and keep people in jobs,” Mr Perrottet said.
“Once again we are delivering timely and targeted support to keep businesses in business and people in jobs as we work together to overcome this latest challenge.”
AHA NSW CEO John Whelan said the tax deferrals and hospitality grants would assist hoteliers forced to close their businesses and stand down staff during the lockdown.
“It has been a constant battle for hotels since the pandemic hit our shores in March last year,” Mr Whelan said, “NSW hotels have operated at a maximum of 50% capacity for the past 15 months. Saturday’s closure saw each of the impacted hotels stand down staff and throw out thousands of dollars’ worth of fresh produce…The pubs might be closed but the bills keep coming in, so the grants for impacted businesses are particularly appreciated.”
What has become clear over the past week is that this is uncertainty will absolutely continue until next year with at least 75-80 per cent of the adult population needing to be vaccinated before herd immunity is achieved.
