Cafes and restaurants in Wollongong have begun cautiously opening their doors to dine-in customers following a roll back of social restrictions on Friday.
The easing of restrictions allow cafes and restaurants to have up to 10 people eat in-store provided there is enough space for social distancing.
Lettuce B. Frank cafe manger Amelie Courtney has opted to reopen outdoor seating for now.
“We’re just a little bit nervous about the second wave, but we only just reopened yesterday,” Ms Courtney said.
“We decided not to do takeaway because we have a few staff who have illnesses, so we thought we’d just close for six weeks.”
The last six weeks of quarantine have taken a financial toll on many businesses, and Coffee Culture manager Jaryd Ramesy said the lift on indoor seating couldn’t have been more timely.
“I’d say it came at a reasonable time, we’ve made great progress in minimising the impact of the disease, and minimising the new rates of infection, so I think it’s probably coming at a good time,” Mr Ramesy said.
Mr Ramesy said many senior customers were anxious about resuming cafe coffee outings, and customer confidence was top priority.
“We’re trying our best to maintain a high standard of sanitation and social distancing to make the customers feel as comfortable as possible,” he said.
The story is a little different for businesses at Wollongong Central, which have experienced an influx of customers. More on that bellow with Ricardo Roman from Grill’d.