Local businesses have welcomed the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in relation to close contact and quarantine requirements.
Premier Peter Malinauskas last week announced significant easing of South Australia’s COVID-19 rules to bring SA into line with the rest of the nation.
The quarantine period for household close contacts has been reduced from 14 days to seven days, while the definition of a close personal interaction changed from 15 minutes to a cumulative 4 hours during the person’s infectious period.
Mount Gambier Chamber of Commerce president Hayley Neumann said businesses were breathing a sigh of relief following the changes.
“It is a good start and a sigh of relief for a lot of businesses who were losing their staff for 14 days and they were finding they were sometimes having the staff member who had COVID back before the person who was a close contact,” she said.
“The rules were ridiculous, but they protected us and did their job while they needed to.
“It means that businesses have staff once again, there are still the rules but staff are back on board quicker, businesses are not having to find as many staff.”
Ms Neumann said hospitality businesses had felt the brunt of the restrictions, having to close at short notice due to staff shortages.
“That stress of not having staff is still there but it will definitely be minimised,” she said.
“There were quite a few I noticed … that were closing because of lack of staff, or having shorter opening hours, they were doing their best but sometimes they were having to close.”
Ms Neumann said she believed the change to restrictions would have immediate impact within the community.
“It means that you feel a bit like it’s easier to go out in public,” she said.
“Hopefully that means it brings people out a bit more to socialise with friends and family and spend money.”
The state’s Emergency Management Council has also resolved to work towards removing mask mandates in public places from April 14, however masks will still be required in high-risk settings.
