COVID-19: Hospitality industry warns 14 day isolation requirement would be ‘disastrous’

WA’s hospitality sector fears there would be “disastrous” consequences if staff deemed close contacts of COVID-19 cases have to isolate for 14 days. Wes Lambert, the chief executive of the Restaurant and Catering Industry Association, warned hundreds of businesses would be forced to close and thousands of bookings would be lost if WA didn’t change its protocol. “We must learn to live with COVID and abandon tracking and tracing once high vaccinations rates are achieved,” he said. He called for employees who were deemed close or casual contacts who showed no symptoms to be allowed to take a rapid antigen test and return to work upon returning a negative result. The NSW Government this week announced it would allow close contacts to re-enter the community as soon as they returned a negative PCR test to cope with staffing shortages, particularly among healthcare workers. A national cabinet meeting on Thursday decided a new definition of “close contacts” would apply to people living with a confirmed COVID-19 positive person or sharing an accommodation setting with them for more than four hours. The isolation period for anyone infected with the disease and their close contacts was also reduced to seven days. Six states and territories would adopt the new rules in the next two days, leaving WA and the Northern Territory to commit to a date. Premier Mark McGowan said WA would transition eventually but did not believe it was necessary now due to the State’s low case numbers. He did not provide an exact timeframe and said he would wait until WA had “high case loads”. But Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA chief executive Chris Rodwell said he understood the new seven-day isolation and close contact definitions will apply from February 5 or sooner “should there be a significant outbreak where contact tracing and testing is put under acute strain”. “The current 14-day isolation period has the potential to significantly disrupt the delivery of critical health and community services as well as business operations across many sectors of the economy,” Mr Rodwell said. Sneakers and Jeans chief executive Andy Freeman — who runs several Perth CBD bars and restaurants, including The Flour Factory, Hadiqa, Pirate Life and Varnish — was concerned he could be forced to close his venues for extended periods of time if a number of his staff were required to isolate simultaneously. “A lot of our staff live together across the different businesses. I don’t know how we would manage it, it would be disastrous,” he said. “It would essentially feel like a lockdown.” He said WA’s severe skills crunch meant it was already a challenge to have enough staff for each shift, let alone if a sizeable portion were forced to isolate for days, or weeks. Blasta Brewing founder Steve Russell believed staff should be able to return to work if they returned a negative rapid antigen test — provided it was deemed acceptable by health advice. “It’s a tricky one because you’ve got to weigh up the balance of running a business but also looking after people’s health,” he said. Mr Russell said his main concern about ongoing COVID-19 restrictions was the prospect of potentially having to let staff go as a result of reduced operating hours and cash flow. The micro brewery had at one point considered closing on a Monday and Tuesday due to staff shortages.

COVID-19: Hospitality industry warns 14 day isolation requirement would be ‘disastrous’

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