South Australian cafes and restaurants are open and serving outdoor diners from Monday after a long coronavirus lay-off
SA eateries enjoyed a small win on Monday, as they reopened their outdoor dining areas to a maximum of 10 patrons. And RSLs are not far behind them.
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Local eateries are celebrating a small win as COVID-19 restrictions slowly ease across the state, opening their doors to outdoor diners from Monday.
Premier Steven Marshall announced on Friday restrictions to cafes and restaurants would ease and 10 people could dine outdoors if social distancing measures were maintained.
North Adelaide Precinct Association president Linda Zaccara said it was uplifting on Monday morning to see a hive of activity around the city fringe cafes.
“Even I’m excited to see it, because seeing that just seems like a giant step towards getting to a new, more permanent operating mode,” Ms Zaccara said.
She said the lifting of restrictions was comforting to many local businesses doing it tough.
“The sense of uncertainty, not knowing when things can open up and how they can open up makes it hard to plan and strategise their business,” Ms Zaccara added.
Bond and Lane Canteen in Colonel Light Gardens owner Lou Rodwell said she had a great response this morning from the minute she started trading.
“We opened at 7am and we had someone there at 7am waiting,” Ms Rodwell said.
“Our tables were consistently full.”
The cafe has been serving takeaway food and drinks for the past few weeks, and Ms Rodwell said the new restrictions are a good sign to the future.
“I’m just happy, it gives people an idea that we will return to normal one day,” she said.
Mr Marshall said new easing of restrictions will be introduced on June 8, and could see more dinners allowed in cafes pubs and restaurants than initially outlined.
“But we’ve got to do it in a safe way,” he said.
“We’ve made it really clear we are going to take this at our own pace.”
Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said in an article in The Advertiser on Monday, the easing of restrictions should not encourage complacency.
“In terms of enforcement, make no mistake the checking on businesses and individuals will continue,” Mr Stevens said.
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Mateship has served veterans well for most of their lives, be it under enemy fire or sharing stories over a beer.
And when RSL sub-branches across SA reopen their doors this week, that sense of camaraderie and looking out for your mates will be as strong as ever.
An easing of COVID-19 restrictions means SA’s 126 RSL sub-branches can now welcome back members, though groups will be limited to a maximum of 10 and the beer won’t be flowing just yet.
But RSL SA/NT president Cheryl Cates said allowing veterans to catch up for a chat and check on each other’s welfare was important to combat the ill-effects of social isolation.
“It’s impacted the community pretty hard,” Ms Cates said.
“For a lot of these people, that’s the highlight of their week, going to their local RSL, that’s part of the mateship which we foster with the RSL.
“And this is where they get the mateship from – going to their local sub-branch, catching up with their friends and having a beer.”
She said most sub-branches were keen to get back to normal trading as soon as possible, especially after missing out on Anzac Day revenue. “I don’t know what’s going to happen with some of the sub-branches and how they’re going to survive,” she said. “Anzac Day is the biggest trading day on their calendars.”
There are more than 10,000 RSL members in SA.
Plympton and Glenelg RSL vice-president Bill Hignett said his sub-branch was getting ready to open on Wednesday.
Though their bar will serve only takeaway meals, Mr Hignett said the opportunity for members to have a chat with others would be welcome.
“This is a great start to be quite honest,” Mr Hignett said.
He said their veterans centre had provided welfare checks using online video chats, but most members benefited more from face-to-face interaction.
“We’ve got some older veterans and we’d like them to have some social interaction if they’d like.”
Mr Hignett said many members took part in dawn services independently but were unable to celebrate with friends on Anzac Day.
“For us, it’s a financial issue,” he said. “Running the veterans’ centre, we rattle the tins a little bit when people come in.
“We’re really looking forward to June 8, because it looks like (members will) be able to come in and have a meal.”