With Tamworth now locked down, the ongoing pandemic is currently hitting closer to home than ever before.

While COVID restrictions across the Narrabri Shire remain unchanged, locals are preparing for the possibility of lockdown in the near future in regional NSW.

Business NSW’s Joe Townsend has offered advice to business owners facing this uncertainty.

“The first step is assessing whether or not your business will be able to stay open if lockdown hits,” he said.

“Since regional NSW hasn’t had much exposure to harsh lockdowns yet, I recommend this being a businessowner’s first port of call so you’re aware of where you sit.

“You’ll need to check if your business is considered essential, which will determine whether or not you can keep your doors open and continue offering your services.”

Mr Townsend says that, if you’re not considered eligible, you should start exploring other options in case the area is locked down.

“You’ll need to consider what you’re allowed to do,” he said.

“That means understanding the restrictions and your team’s ability to take on flexible work arrangements such as working from home.

“However, some of the hardest hit local industries will include food and beverage providers – if lockdown means you can’t seat and serve customers, perhaps you should consider takeaways and deliveries.

“And we’ve already seen that quick pivot, away from on-site service capabilities, in pubs and clubs across the metropolitan areas that are currently under stay-at-home orders.”

Mr Townsend says he’s pleased to see the NSW government acting according to the health advice offered by medical professionals.

“We’re seeing those short, sharp lockdowns in areas infected, such as the seven-day Armidale shutdown,” he said.

“And I expect that approach to continue across the state in any local government areas that return positive test results.”

With the virus spreading more quickly across regional NSW than it did towards the beginning of the pandemic, Mr Townsend is urging locals to be vigilant.

“The delta variant is definitely demonstrating its ability to transfer throughout communities, irrespective of the tightened restrictions and rules,” he said.

“So we really need to be aiming for a high vaccination rate, and learning to live with the virus in the meantime as it doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon.”

Mr Townsend says he will be making decisions according to the expert health advice, and he recommend we all do the same.

“The government is currently giving you two options, you can seek further advice by booking in to see your GP or you can go straight to a vaccination hub and get the jab,” he said.

“I’ve spoken with people who’ve had the AstraZeneca and they’ve noted that the healthcare workers administering the vaccine are very thorough in their advice and information sharing.

“So I encourage everyone to get vaccinated once they find the type that will be best for them.”

Mr Townsend acknowledges that the ongoing pandemic hasn’t been easy on Australians, especially those living in farming-focused communities.

“We fought the drought for years and now we’re facing COVID, which takes its toll, so many people’s mental health is quite worn right now,” he said.

“I just encourage anyone who may be struggling to reach out to loved ones, friends and family, and seek professional help if they need it.”

Business NSW recently released survey results which demonstrate just how hard these New England North West businesses have been hit.

The COVID-19 Business Impact Survey, compares the effect of the current lockdown with that of the March 2020 shutdown.

“Preliminary results from the survey were successfully used to advocate for the expanded business support from state and federal governments, announced July 13, 2021,” Mr Townsend said.

“Two weeks into this lockdown, New England North West businesses reported revenue to be 37 per cent lower than in pre-COVID conditions, even lower than the 31 per cent drop recorded during the first two weeks of the 2020 lockdown.”

“It should be extremely concerning for governments that New England North West businesses have reported a harder impact from the first fortnight of the current lockdowns than from the equivalent fortnight of the March 2020 lockdowns.”

However, Mr Townsend also noted that the results showed more positivity among businesses now than it did in March 2020.

“Business confidence is significantly higher than the same period in 2020 – despite their vulnerabilities, businesses completing the July 2021 survey were more optimistic about the next three months compared to those which completed the earlier survey.

“A key difference between the current period and the previous lockdown is that vaccines against COVID-19 now exist, whereas in mid-2020 vaccines were still in early stages of development.

“While the existence of vaccines and the ongoing rollout is keeping business confidence higher than it was last year, we expect these figures to drop substantially as the shutdown continues and regional communities go into sharp lockdowns.

“The hospitality, arts, events and tourism sectors have of course been hardest hit, and the drop in Sydney demand has compounded a lack of consumer confidence locally.”

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