SPHINX DRINKS TO NEW JAB RULES
HOSPITALITY patrons and staff will need to be fully vaccinated under Victoria’s path out of lockdown, a move welcomed by the owner of North Geelong’s The Sphinx Hotel.
“If that’s what it takes to get our doors open and run our business again, I’m all for it,” George Ramia said.
“I know the staff are fully prepared to vaccinate.
“I just want to open the doors again. We’re all getting very frustrated (at the lockdowns).”
Under the road map out of lockdown, all workers at pubs and cafes will require Covid vaccinations, but no date has been set for when the rule comes into effect.
It coincides with the state shutting out people who are not vaccinated from dining at hospitality venues.
Mr Ramia, who spoke out last week, calling for a jab mandate for patrons to protect his business, said he supported the changes and was confident the new rules could be implemented smoothly.
But Mr Ramia expressed concern about the rollout of other changes.
As part of the new rules, regional hospitality venues will only be able to host up to 10 people indoors, and 30 people outdoors, until 70 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated.
Once that target is reached — a milestone tipped to occur on October 26 — the patron limit will increase to 30 indoors and 100 outdoors.
Mr Ramia said The Sphinx was largely dependent on indoor service and the prospect of being limited to 10 diners for another month was concerning.
“All I’m doing is pretty much keeping the staff employed,” he said. “It’s still hard to run the business viably.
“With Victorian weather, it’s very hard to accommodate people outdoors comfortably.
“There’s been situations where I’ve had to serve people in the rain and it’s just unviable. It’s not practical.”
Under the road map, hospitality venues will be able to accept 150 vaccinated patrons indoors once 80 per cent of the eligible population has received both jabs.