Revealed: when Sunshine Coast pubs could reopen

It’s the answer to the question everyone is thirsty for: when will Sunshine Coast pubs and bars reopen and the tap beers start to flow?

Have a beer for a farmer at Tewantin and Let It Pour.

IT'S the answer to the question everyone is thirsty for: when will Sunshine Coast pubs and bars reopen and the tap beers start to flow?

With lockdown restrictions beginning to ease following Queensland's slow but steady control of the coronavirus, could our beloved watering holes be opened soon?

Advice from the Chief Health Officer indicates two virus incubation periods or 28 days with no new confirmed cases in a region is one of the requirements before more restrictions are eased.

"Additionally, the Government has established a working group to overlay that health advice with economic advice regarding the next stages of restrictions that can be lifted," a spokesman for Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.

In Townsville, a region where no new case has been recorded in more than two weeks, May 7 is the earliest possible day of opening, as the date falls at the end of the 28-day incubation period.

 

Opening of the new The Baringa Tavern. Owner Scott Armstrong. Photo Patrick Woods / Sunshine Coast Daily.

 

In the Northern Territory, June has been touted as the earliest possible date.

For the Sunshine Coast, if no new cases were recorded in this region, the earliest possible date would be May 24.

Health experts have previously told the Sunshine Coast Daily they expect pubs and restaurants to be among the last to reopen.

Sunshine Coast Hotels owner Scott Armstrong said it was a question everyone was dying to know.

Mr Armstrong said when restrictions were eventually relaxed, he expected enforced social distancing and sanitisation protocols to remain in place.

"The last thing we want is to reopen too early and be shut down again," Mr Armstrong said.

"Everyone is busting to get out and open but we have to respect the government decisions.

"When we do open, we're likely to have restrictions in place.

"We have to make sure we open at the right time and if that is a while away, so be it."

Mr Armstrong, who owns the Baringa, Parklands, Bellvista taverns and the Brightwater Hotel, said more than 100 staff had been kept through the JobKeeper packages.

"That's about two-thirds of our staff, which is a good thing for us," he said.

"We originally were going to offer takeaway dining but it wasn't financially viable.

"Fortunately, our bottle shops are still open, though."

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