Tara Murray
Key services in Brimbank have temporarily shut their doors due to staff shortages caused by people having to isolate because of COVID-19.
At least three Brimbank bank branches were closed this week, along with two post offices. Multiple restaurants have returned to takeaway only or closed their kitchens, while Brimbank council has reduced the operating hours of its libraries.
The post offices in Brimbank Central and Cairnlea have been temporarily closed due to team members in self-isolation.
An Australia Post spokesperson said they were seeing more than 1500 of their our team in necessary self-isolation on any given day,
“We are working on minimising future network disruption as vaccination rates continue to rise, including using technology in our major facilities to assist with social distancing and contact tracing, and in our post offices we continue to have protective screens, social distancing markers and masks worn where required to help keep our team members and customers safe,” the spokesperson said.
“We know that disruptions can be frustrating, but we kindly ask our customers for their patience and to treat our dedicated team members with respect as they work hard under difficult circumstances to get mail and parcels to their destination as quickly and safely as possible.”
The ANZ’s Brimbank Central branch, the Westpac St Albans branch and Commonwealth Bank branch at Keilor Downs are also closed.
The CBA branch was set to reopen on January 17, while the others will be opened as soon as safe.
Spokespeople for all three banks said banks, like a number of other industries, were having to alter their operating hours due to staff shortages due to people who have either tested positive for COVID-19 or are close contacts.
The banks all said they had other branches or ATMs open in the municipality which residents could access in the meantime.
The staff shortages and safety concerns have also seen restaurants change their services.
The Dragon Express in Sunshine has returned to takeaway only.
“Unfortunately due to rising local cases, we are once again concerned for the health of our valuable staff members and will temporarily not be offering dine-in,” a social media post said.
“However, we will remain open for pick up and delivery only so that you can all still get your Dragon Express fix.”
The Derrimut Hotel said on its social media it had closed its kitchen due to staff shortages.
