Lockdown in paradise: How Byron Bay is coping with Covid-19 outbreak

Many families decided to move the homeschooling to the beach in Byron, with children playing at Tallows while trying to remember how to spell ‘lockdown’.

The streets of Byron Bay were almost deserted on the first day of a seven-day stay-at-home order for the Northern Rivers.

The measure, from 6pm Monday, took many by surprise.

But the Byron gods smiled at residents and visitors ‘trapped’ in paradise, with sunshine and great surf.

Many families decided to move the homeschooling to the beach, with children playing at Tallows beach while trying to remember how to spell ‘lockdown’.

John, from Suffolk Park, said the lockdown took his family by surprise.

“We expected it to be announced in the morning (of Tuesday) and that we were going to get an extra day of school, but we woke up to the news we were home schooling, so I had to reschedule my working day and now we are doing time tables at the beach,” he said.

“Just don’t take my photo or publish my surname please, my boss thinks I’m at a meeting,” he added.

Lockdown in paradise – how Byron Bay is getting through

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It was a similar story for many businesses and other service providers that were still active within the community.

Still trying to accommodate to changing circumstances were frontline workers, like Dr Adam Ellerby, a GP at First Light Healthcare in Byron Bay and Ballina.

Dr Adam Ellerby, GP at First Light Healthcare Byron Bay, was alternating telehealth appointments with face-to-face consultations on August 10, 2021.

“We are calling people and doing some form of triage, where we check if we can offer them solutions via the phone,” he said.

“If someone wants to order some exams or discuss results, it’s fine, but I spoke to a person who had a swollen foot earlier, and it was hard to assess so I had to ask him to send pictures.

“Similar to last year, people understand we are doing this for their safety, and as a result there are a few less people here, and the ones that are in, are also very safe.”

The GP said pressure on the Covid testing First Light runs in Ballina means he may need to shift into swabbing patients.

“They will be doing hundreds of Covid swabs a day so I think myself and my partner will go down there while it is quiet here to help with that job.”

Businesses and shops in Byron Bay complained about the lack of mobile coverage due to a Telstra outage.

The owner of a cafe in Byron Bay, who requested to remain anonymous, said that while the business community is hurting, people are happy the town has seen a lull in activity.

“Normally, this would be the busiest time of the year, we would be ‘recovering’ from Splendour in the Grass and Byron Writers Festival and town would be very busy, but we rather keep our community safe, because Byron will be here when the pandemic is over, and we’ll be ready for those lovely tourists,” she said.