Naomi Milgrom is incredulous – and furious. The owner of more than 500 women’s clothing stores across Australia, including the Sussan, Sportsgirl and Suzanne Grae brands, simply cannot comprehend why shopping centres have still not been closed by government decree.

“Our staff are being put at risk,”she tells The Australian Financial Review. “We have a duty of care to our staff and we have provided masks but they are going to run out. Some of our stores are very small. It is not possible to even do the four square-metre rule with just one customer in the shop."