By Oliver Lees
Business owners in Sunbury and the Macedon Ranges continue to grapple with uncertainty as an extension of coronavirus restrictions sees different measures in place in metro Melboourne and regional Victoria.
Last week, a further seven days of stringent lockdown measures were announced for Sunbury residents as Victoria’s latest COVID-19 outbreak ballooned to more than 60 cases.
Located on O’shannassy Street in Sunbury, HomeGrown Gifts co-owner and mother of four Sharyn Snook has had to scale back her business hours to meet the new restrictions.
“We’re disappointed and a bit frustrated,” Ms Snook said. “You can’t argue with the need to protect people’s health, but it worries me that the mental health of small businesses doesn’t seem to be as important as the physical health of the general public.
By Jessica Micallef
Sunbury and Macedon Ranges residents are eagerly waiting to find out if Victoria will be released from a five-day stage four lockdown tomorrow night.
The state was plunged into a “circuit breaker” lockdown on Friday night in response to an outbreak that stemmed from Melbourne Airport’s Holiday Inn.
On Monday, Victoria recorded one locally acquired case of COVID-19 and one case in hotel quarantine, bringing the total number of active cases to 21.
Sunbury Business Association president Michael Osborne said the latest lockdown was another blow for businesses, with non-essential retail closed and restaurants limited to takeaway.