Coronavirus: Melbourne family braves outbreak, workers mull home productivity

Covid-19 clampdown may have kept Sydney’s CBD eerily empty but they weren’t enough to scare away one Victorian family.

Lisa Vowles and her daughters Matilda and Darcy Henning, came to Sydney on a holiday despite Covid restrictions. Picture: Ryan Osland

The Covid-19 clampdown may have kept Sydney’s CBD eerily empty on Thursday – but they weren’t enough to scare away one intrepid Victorian family.

The Vowles family chanced the restrictions and the threat of border closures, travelling from Ballarat to Sydney for a holiday they described as “a rite of passage”.

On Tuesday, Lisa Vowles and her twin daughters, Matilda and Darcy Henning, 13, flew from Melbourne to Sydney after previous outbreaks and border closures had forced them to cancel their plans.

“We’ve been trying to do this trip for more than 18 months,” said Ms Vowles. “First it was the Ruby Princess then it was another outbreak, so we just decided to go for it and take the chance.

“Our plane was cancelled first thing in the morning, but we just went to the airport and were lucky enough to get some tickets up and we’ve been touring around for the last couple of days.”

Ms Vowles, who is fully vaccinated, says the prospect of future lockdowns and border closures no longer deters her, adding: “It’s been great to come to Sydney now in a way because we’ve seen it when it’s quiet and without so many people around.”

Asked if she was concerned about returning home or potentially having to undertake hotel quarantine, Ms Vowles said: “We can’t let this keep ruling our lives, we need to live our lives. We had an opportunity, so we thought we’d give it a shot.”

James Hasemer (left) teaching a yoga class where everyone is wearing a mask at Central Yoga School in Surry Hills. Picture: Adam Yip

But most tourists – and indeed most Sydneysiders – thought better of braving the CBD.

By Thursday afternoon Circular Quay had been emptied of its usual swell of visitors, with bars and restaurants choosing to close early because of the scarcity of people.

Many of the business district’s biggest companies had already made the call to desert the city, with thousands of staff from KPMG, Deutsche Bank and Macquarie Bank told to stay at home.

A spokesman from EY said the company had already asked more than 3000 staff in the company’s Sydney office to continue working remotely wherever possible, adding that the office will remain open “only for those who are unable to work remotely”.

Businessman Daniel Embrey, who works for a consultancy near Martin Place, said his company had already begun the shift to remote working in the last couple of days, but said “it probably won’t be until next week – if things get worse – that we’ll completely leave the office”.

“It’s an open conversation that we all have in the office and if people want to work from home then that can happen … I think a lot of people will take that option.”

However, with an eight-year-old at home, Mr Embrey says productivity levels can vary.

“With a young kid, it’s great to be home, but when you need to work and be efficient the office is the place I prefer to be in.”

Thomas Jacquot, who works in finance on Philip St, said the “demarcation between home and work” shouldn’t be underestimated. “I would say my preference is always to work in the office and be with my colleagues, but who wants to wear a mask while they’re working in the office?”

Meanwhile, in Sydney’s north, Meadowbank Tafe was forced to cancel classes and undertake a deep clean of one of its main buildings after the campus was listed as an exposure site on Thursday.

Nick Willoughby, 21, who is in the final stages of his certificate 3 for plumbing, said students were told on Wednesday.

“Everyone was well notified and I’m not too worried,” Mr Willoughby said.

“But I hope the outbreak won’t mean remote learning again.”