Tara Murray
Brimbank residents are eagerly waiting to find out if Victoria will be released from a five-day stage 4 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.
Many Brimbank residents rushed to the shops on Friday afternoon with reports of lengthy queues as people attempted to stock up on essentials before the lockdown began.
Similar scenes across the state forced major supermarkets to reinstate limits on some items.
The lockdown left shattered businesses questioning how they would cope ahead of Valentine’s Day.
A western suburbs florist, who didn’t want to be named, said that Valentine’s Day sets them up for the rest of the year.
The woman and her staff had been working from 6am to 9pm in preparation for Valentine’s Day.
‘I’ve already paid for all the flowers,” she said. “It’s at least $15,000 and I don’t know what is going to happen.
“There’s a lot of pressure on us as we’ve already purchased them. What if we can’t sell them?”
Vic Scherri, who owns Sunbury’s Vic’s Food and Wine, said the latest shut down had left him $20,000 out-of-pocket.
He said Valentine’s Day was usually his restaurant’s third busiest day of the year after Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.
“This is absolutely horrendous,” he said on Friday.
Mr Scherri said staff morale was low.
“The government is saying it’s [the lockdown] going to only be five days but anything can happen.
“It could be for a week, it could go on for longer.”
Two Brimbank locations remain on the high risk exposure sites after a 50-year-old woman, who has since tested positive for coronavirus, visited them.
Anyone who visited Dan Murphy’s in Sunshine on February 5 between 5.50pm and 6.30pm and the following day between 6.50 pm and 7.30pm and Off Ya Tree at Watergardens Shopping Centre on Saturday between 1.00pm and 1.52pm are required to get tested and isolate for 14 days.
For more information on sites, www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/case-locations-and-outbreaks-covid-19
