BUSINESSES are now able to operate at 50pc capacity as South Australia moves into the third stage of lifting COVID-19 restrictions.
As of Monday, the capacity of 300 people was scrapped and all venues and business operators are now subject to new distancing rules of one person per two-square metre rule.
Gaming rooms also reopened alongside food courts, while nightclubs and large crowds at events are currently under consideration.
Penola’s Prince of Wales Hotel Motel owner Mark Millie welcomed the news, with his capacity doubling to 110 patrons at one time including 50 dine-in visitors and the opening of its gaming room.
“With the four-square meter ruling and the lower numbers it was quite frustrating to try and control and was difficult moving people from room to room so we could keep our numbers at the right distance,” Mr Millie said.
During the tougher restrictions the popular hotel was operating at 25pc turnover, however with restrictions lifting Mr Millie said the business is back up to 50pc.
“For our particular business that means jobs,” he said.
“This is the first step to getting the local economy back up and running and is what we have all been waiting for.”
Mr Millie said the reopening of the gaming facilities will pose a challenge and employees will be required to keep an eye on eager gamblers.
“It will be difficult to begin with to maintain the distance because people see the gaming room and just want to go in so we have got to keep that under control,” he said.
“There are also people who have not gambled for a long time and if it is their little get out, we need to keep an eye on that so they do not go over their limits which is very important.”
Mr Millie said sanitising of gaming facilities will also be a critical challenge during the coming weeks.
“We will need to sanitise everything including the pokie cups, while also making sure our patrons are fine which is a lot of work,” he said.
Despite the challenges ahead, Mr Millie said the further relaxation of restrictions was what staff had been hoping for since being allowed to reopen.
“Our kitchen can now spread its wings a little bit because we have had restricted meal times, but now the numbers are up again we can go back to our normal times,” he said.
“It has been bizarre to go from having nobody in the pub to being heavily restricted to having people come in more freely.
“We do know people have stayed away throughout the first few weeks because they feared they would be turned away, but now they know everything is in full swing it is easier.”
Mr Millie said a significant number of patrons were well adapted to social distancing while visiting the facility and were happy to comply with the current standards.
“It is great that patrons can now stand and have a drink and play pool, but it is just about making sure the public are reminded that social distancing is still a necessity,” he said.
“Most patrons are doing the right thing, but it can be difficult for them because coming out to the pub is a social event.
“Most come from home and are eager to see their friends, but we still need to enforce the social distancing measure.”
Pipers of Penola’s owner Erika Bowen celebrated the easing of restrictions and said it will be all hands on deck once again for the popular restaurant.
Following a nine week closure, the business is now able to cater to 30 patrons, with Ms Bowen eager to have things back to normal.
“It is great to have things back to some kind of normal and there have been positives to come out of all of this,” Ms Bowen said.
“During this time it has allowed us to open up another avenue for take away, giving those who may not want to sit and dine in a chance to still experience our food.”
The restaurant established a take away menu during restrictions and Ms Bowen saying it was something staff may continue.
“We are looking forward to getting back to normal and when the borders reopen it will be great because we will then get an influx of visitors as well,” she said.
“The community have given us a lot of positive feedback especially with the take away initiative which has been fantastic and we were quite lucky because we were not massively affected by all of this because of the time of the year it occurred.”
