MILDURA business owners are in limbo as they await an announcement on when and how regional Victoria will reopen after lockdown.
On Wednesday, Premier Daniel Andrews told media he expected Victoria would remain in lockdown until 70 per cent of the population had at least one COVID-19 vaccine – on or about September 23.
A few minutes later, he suggested regional Victoria could be released as soon as next week.
For Sip. cocktail bar & eatery owners Damien Arney and Steph Bradshaw, the apparent mixed messaging was frustrating.
“I’m not 100 per cent sure what’s going on,” Mr Arney said.
“I reckon they will try to open us up, but what sort of capacity limits they’ll put on us I’m not sure.
“I’m not really reading anything into guessing. There’s no point trying to prep for a day that’s not set.”
After calling last drinks several times over the past 18 months, Mr Arney said while he was “definitely looking forward to opening up again”, next time he opened up the bar, he wanted it to be open for good.
“I don’t know how many times we can open up to close down again,” he said. “Whether or not that means we take the extra two weeks to get on top of everything so that we can spend a couple of months open, rather than getting out a week early just to close in another week.
“Obviously everyone would like to get back to normal, but we’d like to get to a situation where we know we’re going to get a decent trade for a decent period of time.”
According to Ms Bradshaw, so many months of uncertainty had taken a toll on people working in pubs, clubs, restaurants and cafes.
“Someone said to me it’s a bit like being in a washing machine, and I feel like that’s really accurate,” she said.
“The process, especially in hospitality, of opening back up is a lot of manpower, a lot of food and a lot of stress on owners and also employees.
“We’re mindful of caring for the mental health of our employees and ourselves.
“It takes a lot of mental toughness, which can be hard to maintain long-term, and I think the whole industry is feeling it.”
As they anxiously waited to hear whether their Eighth Street bar would be able to welcome revellers again any time soon, the pair said there was one thing loyal customers could do to make sure everyone can get back to their favourite watering hole faster – get vaccinated.
“Vaccination will help us all get there,” Ms Bradshaw said, as Mr Arney added: “We’ll see you on the other side.”
