Coronavirus-free country towns keen to keep tourists away

Rural towns that have so far escaped the coronavirus want social-distancing rules retained to keep their communities safe.

Steve Klaassen and Belinda Carle at their Kyogle cafe. Picture: Natalie Grono

Communities in regional NSW that are so far unaffected by the coronavirus pandemic are urging the Berejiklian government to maintain a strict statewide lockdown policy for “as long as it takes” to combat the spread of the potentially fatal pathogen.

Large swaths of regional Australia remain free of the coronavirus, yet many regional mayors say they are “terrified” by the prospect of an outbreak occurring in their community.

Danielle Mulholland, the mayor of Kyogle in northeast NSW, said winding back social-distancing rules in regional towns before the rest of the country would be “dangerous”.

“We don’t really understand how prevalent community transmission of COVID-19 is, so I would be reluctant to lift any restrictions,” Ms Mulholland told The Weekend Australian.

“We also have about 1600 backpackers heading our way to work on blueberry farms and we need to be able to manage that influx of workers.”

While Kyogle is so far coronavirus-free, Ms Mulholland said the region was recovering from “blow after blow”, having faced three bushfires in just 12 months.

Like thousands of other small business owners across Australia, Steve Klaassen and Belinda Carle are battling to survive the economic devastation that is being wrought by the virus.

The couple, who own The Farmer’s Plate in Kyogle, said they supported the harsh restrictions placed on cafes and were just taking it “day by day”. “We run a little restaurant in a small country town, so what’s going on is bigger than us, our town, and even our country,” Mr Klaassen said.

“I back the social-distancing measures, but after drought, fires and floods, this virus has brought the town to breaking point.”

More than 130 regions and local government areas in Australia had recorded no COVID-19 cases up until Friday. Broken Hill in western NSW, however, serves as a cautionary tale for towns hoping to relax social-­distancing rules. Broken Hill was designated a “virus hotspot” by NSW Health two weeks ago and while the outback city has only two confirmed cases, one of those was acquired in the area and the source of infection is unknown. Mayor Darriea Turley has asked the NSW government to implement a region-by-region lockdown over fears the health infrastructure in the state’s far west would be “crushed by an outbreak”.