Covid Gold Coast: Small businesses in Currumbin, Palm Beach forced to close after staff member tests positive
A popular small business has been forced to close after a staff member was exposed to a positive Covid-19 case last week – the owners have now started a fundraiser.
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A popular Coast small business has been forced to close after a staff member was exposed to a positive Covid-19 last week – the owners have now started a fundraiser in an effort to keep their heads above water.
Palm Beach cafe Vegepatch Studios posted to their Instagram on Dec 10, revealing a customer who visited the cafe on December 7 between 7.30-8am had tested positive to the virus.
Co-owners Molly Bowes and Jordan Galinie said they were required to stop trading immediately until negative Covid-19 tests were returned.
Mr Galinie started a GoFundMe on Monday to help the three staff pay their rent, overheads, suppliers and expired products and had raised $3,480 by 2pm on December 15.
“As of Friday 10th of December we have had all three of our staff (Kaity, Molly and myself) put into a mandatory 14-day isolation, although we have all received negative test results, this is the Qld government’s approach to Covid-19,” he said.
“So considering the government’s orders to stay closed for 14 days we assumed there would be government support to alleviate the financial pressure 14 days without trade would apply.
“Sadly, that is not the case, there is NO government support whatsoever in regards to this.
“This leads us to this GoFundMe.
“Our intention is not to make a profit via your kind donations, but rather to just ensure we are able to pay rent.
“The past couple of years have been nothing but financially and emotionally draining for our community and individuals who make it.
“Please do not over-donate to us before truly considering your situations,” he said.
Currumbin’s Lazarus Film Lab co-owners Morgan Wagstaff and Blake Pace were also put into isolation after Mr Pace tested positive to Covid-19 last week.
Queensland Health listed the Lazarus Film Lab as an exposure site on December 7, 8 and 9.
Ms Wagstaff said they were physically doing okay, however Mr Pace was still in hospital.
She said she was trying to reach out to the Qld government to help them with funding.
“It sucks knowing if I was in NSW or this had happened three weeks later I would have been able to be back at work generating income,” Ms Wagstaff said.
“It’s obviously super devastating, this period would have been so busy for us and our bills haven’t stopped.
“Luckily because we have been so busy leading up to this we’ll survive but definitely could’t have a situation like this happen again without support.
“We’re trying to work on talking to people who could make some funding happen but no luck at this stage,” she said.
They posted to Instagram five days ago and said they had to close their doors because they were a ‘two-man show’.
“We’re investigating options to continue processing (if the overlords will allow it, unlikely) but for now the machines are off and that’s all we know,” they said.
“We can’t believe this is happening and as a small business we’re not quite sure what this means for us, but you’re support and understanding means the world.
“We’re honestly in shock.
“There are small businesses all over the Coast affected by this outbreak so please look into that,” both Mr Pace and Ms Wagstaff said.
Both businesses have been contacted by the Bulletin for a further update.
DECEMBER 15:
A popular Gold Coast cafe is cutting its dinner service because it cannot get enough fully vaccinated staff to work.
Japanese restaurant Zipang Currumbin says staff shortages and a lack of international students seeking work have made it impossible to continue with his existing opening hours.
Owner and chef Atsu Mizushima said the decision had been made “with much sadness”
In a statement on social media, he insisted his restaurant was a “pro choice” workplace and that he wanted “everyone to make their own decisions in regards to if they do or do not want to get vaccinated”.
“We have struggled to maintain the staff needed to cater to the wider community. With this in mind, the upcoming restrictions from December the 17th are giving us no choice but to stop dinner service from this date as we are unable to find the number of fully vaccinated staff necessary to run both the kitchen and the restaurant,” he said.
“We are fully supportive of our staff and the choices that they are choosing to make. We hope to be back up and running with a full team in the New Year “
It comes just days after the Gold Coast Central Chamber of Commerce revealed city businesses were hiring security to look into the vaccinated status of their own staff, as well as protect them from irate customers.
‘Overworked’ cops face impossible fake vax rules
Police and businesses face a near impossible task to check for fake Covid-19 vax certificates when state government mandates kick in, a lawyer says.
All patrons at bars, cafes, restaurants and in other non-essential settings will be required to be fully vaccinated from December 17 under the new rules.
But Bill Potts, a top Gold Coast criminal lawyer, said many businesses would have an “economic imperative” to ignore the law when checking the legitimacy of certificates.
“Small businesses have a vested interest in getting customers in the door after what has been defined as an extremely tough period,” he said.
Mr Potts said he wouldn’t expect to see anyone in court over a forged certificate and that fines similar to a speeding ticket would likely be given out.
When actually enforcing the rules, Mr Potts said the problem would fall on an “overworked” and “overstretched” police sector.
“While forging and carrying a fake Covid-19 certificate is enforceable and effectively breaking the law, both police and government are going to have significant issues enforcing it. It’s fraught with problems,” he said.
“What happens when a store person encounters a customer who refuses to produce a certificate and then causes a scene to the point where police need to be called.
“Do you really expect police to show up to every single business this happens to?”
Mr Potts said police simply wouldn’t have the resources to enforce the mandate on “such a detailed” scale and it could “fall apart within a very short period of time.”
The chances of being apprehended over carrying or producing a fake Covid-19 certificate were “very slim”, he said.
“There are far more serious crimes out there and the police are busy enough tackling those issues at present.”
But Mr Potts said the mandates were in place because the government “had a genuine interest in protecting the safety of the public”.
“Whether you agree with the law or not, the penalties are in place as a deterrent.”
In October, Gold Coast woman Maria Carmela Pau faced Southport Magistrates Court for allegedly issuing 600 fake medical exemptions for Covid-19 vaccinations.
She was charged with five counts of taking a title indicating she is a health practitioner. The case was adjourned and she is scheduled to appear in court again on December 9.
‘Covid Cops’ needed to keep out unvaxxed staff and patrons
DECEMBER 6: Gold Coast businesses are being forced to hire security staff to check their own staff’s vaccination status and protect them from irate unjabbed customers.
Rising tensions have prompted the move ahead of the December 17 deadline for patrons to be double-vaxxed or face being banned from almost all venues statewide
All people above the age of 16 who have not received both doses over will be blocked from pubs, clubs, restaurants, cafes, nightclubs and stadiums.
Mayor Tom Tate slammed the need for “Covid cops” while Gold Coast Central Chamber of Commerce president Martin Hall said business owners were feeling the heat after a series of incidents in other states.
“Some of our members in the security profession are already being employed by some industries to challenge their staff who are unvaccinated,” he said.
“We have come to that point in time when companies are taking the step of having to stop their staff from coming to work.
“Other security people are being engaged by businesses ahead of December 17 to deal with the public too.”
Businesses across Australia have been forced to hire security to deal with violent and unruly customers who have refused to comply with either QR codes or showing their vaccine status.
In November a Melbourne book shop was forced to hire guards after its staff were attacked, with one slapped in the face and another thrown down an escalator by an irate person who refused to show their Covid certificate or use the QR code.
Mr Hall said businesses needed clarity about the road map ahead and what steps they would need to take once the vaccine mandate came into effect.
“Many of our businesses are saying they cannot go full-throttle because they cannot get staff,” he said.
The jab mandate has been criticised by businesses as well as Mr Tate. Last month he said if any of the Gold Coast’s 66,000 small businesses want to serve the unvaccinated – they should.
“My view is that if a business only wants to let vaccinated patrons in, that’s fine,” he said in November
“The same applies if they want to let unvaccinated patrons in … I’m completely pro-choice in that regard.”
On Monday, the Mayor said he was “disheartened” businesses had to hire private security to police the mandate.
“Front-door staff are not ‘Covid cops’ and to have security checking a person’s health status goes against the hospitality industry’s core values which are to welcome everyone at their door,” he said.
“That is why it is called hospitality and my view is that if business have to hire private security for the safety of their staff, or patrons, I’d urge the state to compensate those businesses for the considerable expense this will incur.’’
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has also taken shots at the state government’s stance to prohibit unvaccinated people from entering pubs and cafes once the state hit the 80 per cent fully vaccinated threshold. He recently said people should be allowed to “get a cup of coffee” regardless of their vaccination status.
In response, Queensland deputy premier Steven Miles said Mr Morrison was undermining Queenslanders’ vaccine efforts.
Bar boss: ‘No one can tell us what to do’
A GOLD Coast bar boss says the hospitality industry needs clear instructions from the Queensland Government how to monitor unvaccinated customers.
From December 17 hospitality venues are only permitted to allow fully vaccinated people to attend.
Scott Imlach, who owns Mr Hizolas, Bine Bar and Hideaway Kitchen & Bar in his Gold Coast stable, said the message to the hospitality industry about how to handle unvaccinated customers ha been unclear: “We’ve been to government bodies, we’ve been to the police and we’ve talked to security companies, but no one has given us clear instructions on how to operate it.”
Mr Imlach said he could not afford to put security on the doors at restaurants and cafes, meaning staff would be required to monitor if customers were vaccinated or not.
He also raised concerns about fake vaccination certificates being created by customers. Services Australia has said there are penalties of up to $6660 for vaccine providers who forge records.
Robina Pavilion general manager Damien Stephen said the mandate on checking for vaccination status should be treated no differently to an official venue license.
“It’s another obligation we as responsible business owners need to follow, much like a responsible service of alcohol,” he said. Mr Stephen said he wouldn’t be hiring security guards for his venue as the move could be seen as “aggressive to both regulars and new customers.”
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