Coronavirus: How it will impact Wenty Leagues, Parra Leagues
Less beer is flowing, the auditoriums are locked and forget the Saturday show – coronavirus has taken its toll on clubs in a western Sydney community where over 280,000 people are members.
Parramatta
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Two major clubs in western Sydney — Wenty Leagues and Parra Leagues — remain open but are enforcing restrictions imposed on it by the government to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
There are 281,000 members in the community — 184,000 across 14 clubs in the Cumberland council area and 97,000 from 14 clubs in the Parramatta local government area.
Parra Leagues Club suffered a setback when Prime Minister Scott Morrison banned crowds of 500 or more from events, including NRL matches.
Now, as well as losing the game-day crowd, the government’s bans include non-essential indoor gatherings of more than 100 people, which will hit hospitality venues hard.
Parra Leagues and Vikings Sports Club chief executive Bevan Paul posted a statement on Facebook that said Pablo’s Mexican restaurant and Kicks, which includes a bowling alley, would be closed until further notice to “assist with social distancing”.
However, restaurants and bars Tingha Palace, K’s Noodle Bar, The Bistro, Coffee Spot and Legends remain open for members and guests.
Cancelled events today included bingo and trivia but the cash wheel was still played and the meat raffle is still being drawn at 7pm.
“We are continuing to monitor and assess the situation on a daily basis using advice from the government and guidance from our industry body,’’ Mr Bevan said.
“We will get through this but we need everyone’s co-operation.”
Wenty Leagues Club said it was obeying social distancing measures of 1.5m but it had scrapped its events including the Beach Boys and Soul Sensations shows in its Starlight auditorium.
Latin Friday nights, trivia, raffles, Clubby House, Tiny Tots Tuesdays, Wenty Lounge entertainment, bingo, cash housie, poker, dance and gentle exercise classes will be cancelled.
“The safety and wellbeing of our members, guests and staff is our number one priority,’’ the club posted on Facebook.
“Take care of each other and together as a community we will get through this difficult time.”
A ClubsNSW spokesman said it was working with government and health authorities to ensure it continued to act upon the latest advice.
“Clubs have already taken proactive steps in recent weeks, including the provision of extra hand sanitiser, more frequent cleaning of high-touch areas including bathrooms and door handles, and the introduction of single-use paper menus,’’ he said.
“Many clubs have written to their members advising them that if they are not feeling 100 per cent that they should stay home – and in the event that anyone displaying flu-like symptoms turned up at a club, they would be asked to leave.”