Pubs and hotels won’t open in Australia until at least September
Pubs, bars and clubs in Australia are unlikely to open until at least September – and when they do, patrons can expect the strict enforcement of social distancing rules until a vaccine is found, owners and infection disease experts have warned.
While there were only 13 new cases of the virus confirmed in Australia on Monday, state premiers have maintained there’s is no end in site to the ban on bars, cafes and restaurants announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison on March 23.
And several publicans and bar owners in Sydney and Melbourne who spoke to Daily Mail Australia said there’s many hurdles to opening up again.
‘We’ve gone to all this trouble of shutting down, we just want to be sure we are ready before we open up again,’ one Melbourne-based publican said.
A group enjoy last drinks at the Pyrmont Bridge Hotel on March 22, the last night before pubs were shut down across Australia. An infectious disease expert has warned it could be as far away as September before pubs start pouring drinks again
‘And is anyone going to even want to go out again when they realise the extreme measures they will be subjected to? It’s not really fun if security keeps telling you what to do, where to stand, or won’t let you in.’
Another described his fears of playing ‘Russian Roulette’ with a virus for which there is still no cure.
‘We get it, the federal government can’t just keep bankrolling staff, but who wants to be the pub that infects 400 people? You don’t recover from something like that, Ifpug Certification exams questions ever, even though it’s not your fault,’ he said.
‘Hospitality venues carry the most risk of anyone. Until there’s a cure, and that’s not for another year they are saying, a night out just won’t be the same.’
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The fears of publicans and bar owners are echoed by the Australian National University microbiology professor, Peter Collignon, who said it could take months of sustaining low COVID-19 infection rates for restrictions to be fully relaxed on high-contact gatherings like those at pubs and clubs.
He said it could be five months before pubs are reopened, and it would be contingent on venues putting in place measures to maintain social distancing.
One of those rules could be limiting the number of patrons in a venue at any one time.
Table spacing like that observed at Souths Juniors clubs in Sydney (pictured) could be part of the first stages of relaxed restrictions in pubs