New nightclub dancing rules floor business owners
Tricky new rules to control reopened nightclub dance floors will be more than teetering venues can bear, bosses warn.
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Nightclub managers say new rules that allow people to dance and drink at the same time are confusing and will be difficult to police.
SA Health has told venues they can now submit special management plans for dancing and drinking for the first time since March 23.
There will be safeguards to limit the risk of spreading COVID-19, including a cap of 200 patrons, ticketed events, a 50 per cent capacity limit and no mosh pits.
Venues were originally told revellers would not be allowed to go to more than one nightclub on the same night, but Police Commissioner Grant Stevens corrected that advice in a radio interview yesterday.
“One of the discussions is that you’ll have to book in online to go to a nightclub,” he said.
“That doesn’t mean that you can only go to one, but it means you can only get in if you booked in and paid for your entry.”
Adelaide West End Association president Andrew Wallace said the “surprising” new rules would be difficult for venues to control.
“We saw months ago that when standing-up drinking was allowed that venues found it really difficult to control dancing,” he said. Mr Wallace said venues were unsure how to maintain social distancing on the dance floor.
He said the new rules, especially the need to book online, were confusing because until now people could move freely between nightclubs. “I can see this is going to be a really tricky thing to deal with,” Mr Wallace said.
Nightclub queues were already proving difficult to manage across Hindley Street, Mr Wallace said, and the problem might get worse if people had to check-in and wait longer.
He said it was a positive that patrons were being encouraged to return to the West End, but the potential extra costs to manage the new rules were a hindrance to venue owners.
“It’s been a really tough year. Every additional cost is different, but it’s the best possible state to be in at the end of the year, Mr Wallace said.
“People are wanting to have Christmas parties and go out, so it could be worse.”
Hindley Street venue operator John Meek, who owns the Woolshed on Hindley, Downtown and Black Bull, was scathing of the new rules.
“This is a nightmare,” he said. “It will absolutely devastate us. I’m trying to save years of work.
“With these current rules, I’ll lose millions of dollars. It will bankrupt me within weeks.”
Mr Meek said it was unfair that pubs with stand-up drinking could have a turnover of customers without online bookings, but clubs with DJs and dance floors would be limited.
“It’s very distressing; we don’t really know where we stand.”
Australian Hotels Association SA chief executive Ian Horne said the rules appeared “complex, unnecessarily bureaucratic and inflexible”. “Nightclubs have been deliberately prevented from trading as nightclubs for nearly nine months,” he said.
“There still appears some illogical or unexplained requirements. Why a ticketed event only when each venue is required to have comprehensive scanning and tracing technology?”
Mr Horne also said nightclub owners had not been consulted before the rules were announced.
HOSPITAL VISIT CAPS SET TO BE LIFTED
By Andrew Hough
Stringent hospital visitor restrictions are under “active review” amid hopes that caps could be lifted before Christmas, the state’s COVID health chief has revealed.
Chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier said yesterday “very topical” talks were aimed at easing visit restrictions after a backlash against the tight rules.
A formal decision could be made today, in a further sign the state’s worst coronavirus cluster has been contained.
This week, SA Health guidelines allowed for two adult visitors per inpatient each day – up from a one. An adult can also accompany an emergency department patient or a hospital-based outpatient.
While there are no legal restrictions on visitor numbers, health officials have heeded medical advice that has recommended capping visitation levels.
Professor Spurrier provided her latest advice in a series of meeting with clinical colleagues and 10 Local Health Networks. Each have individual rules so discussions have also involved creating uniformity across SA.
“This policy is under active review and consultation with the Local Health Networks, particularly with Christmas approaching,” Prof Spurrier said.
“Obviously as we’re getting closer to Christmas, we want to make sure that people can visit their relatives and do it safely.
“And we’ll be having that dialogue, so there’s definitely no chance that there’s going to get more restricted.
“I’m very aware that hospitals do have fairly strict visitor restrictions at the moment and I want to be able to provide them with where we’re up to as a community with COVID.”
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