Industry is pleading for a continuation to support as Brisbane is plunged back into lockdown just as JobKeeper ends, threatening closed doors for one of the year’s busiest holiday periods.
From Monday afternoon more than two million residents of Brisbane, Logan, Moreton Bay, Ipswich and Redlands were only allowed to leave their homes for the mandated essential reasons as the Queensland Government re-imposed a lockdown of greater Brisbane and trading restrictions across the entire state.
The trigger was discovery of four locally-acquired infections, coupled with fears those infected were out in the community.
Schools have been closed and businesses forced to close, and dozens of venues have been added to a growing list of places considered possible COVID hotspots. Eatons Hill Hotel, Black Hops and Green Beacon breweries are amongst those where visitors are being told they must get tested and self-isolate for 14 days.
The decisive reaction comes less than two weeks after Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young proudly announced the efficacy of the state’s tracing system and an end to wholescale blanket measures.
“There’s no need to go into lockdown when we’ve got responses like this,” she said. “We’ve handled it beautifully.”
The restrictions could not come at a worse time for hospitality businesses, bracing for the end of JobKeeper support and now facing closure during the traditionally very busy Easter period.
“What we are seeing in Queensland today is yet more evidence struggling hospitality businesses need targeted, temporary assistance,” stresses Australian Hotels Association CEO Stephen Ferguson, who has renewed calls for the Federal Government to provide immediate financial relief for hospitality workers and businesses.
“COVID is not over, lockdowns can still happen, border closures can still happen, and tourism and hospitality businesses are heavily impacted.”
The Restaurant & Catering Association (R&CA) calls it a “heartbreaking, crushing blow” to south-east Queensland’s hospitality sector that could be the last for many who have spent a year struggling to survive, with plenty of hospitality and accommodation businesses still suffering the effects of restrictions, despite optimistic observations that the wider economy is performing well.
The economic logic behind a lockdown is based in the greater economic benefit of reducing contagion – achieved by social support allowing businesses to close and people to not work and mingle. The R&CA says this lockdown, without the JobKeeper safety net, means staff stood down, up to $50 million in lost revenue, and nearly $15 million in produce and stock thrown away, while debt piles up.
“R&CA has been warning governments across the country that as long as lockdown remained an active policy response, business support needs to continue,” says CEO Wes Lambert.
The AHA reiterates the quid pro quo of “we’re all in this together” and says balance is essential for the future.
“We understand government restrictions are in place to keep Australians safe and we are proud of the role we have played. But the fact remains while keeping us safe, these limitations come at huge cost to business owners and workers – and will continue to do so.
“We need our businesses to survive and be able to retain their skilled employees so we are there on the other side of the pandemic; now is not the time to leave us stranded on the road to recovery.”
Queensland’s Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, announced today that the signs are “looking positive” for Easter, revealing decision on a continuation of the lockdown of greater Brisbane will be announced Thursday morning.
This follows a further three new cases of COVID-19 detected in the past 24 hours. One of these was in hotel quarantine, but two of the cases were acquired locally, thought to be linked to a nurse at Princess Alexandra Hospital and her roommate.
Their infection stems from a returned traveller from India, and tracing shows it passed to another nurse, then a group of women who had gathered for a bachelorette party at Byron Bay, sparking fears the virus may have crossed state borders.
In light of the global evolution of the pandemic and extenuating circumstances, the AHA sees further assistance as the way forward.
“Given the vaccine rollout is predicted to be completed in about six months, what we are again asking for is targeted, temporary relief for the relatively small number of hospitality and accommodation venues which continue to be significantly impacted by Government imposed restrictions,” says Fergusson.