How the perfect wedding turned into a COVID nightmare

Publicist Sophie Foster said her December 19 wedding at the newly opened rooftop restaurant under the heritage clock at Shell House was the best day ever after months of delays caused by COVID-19.

But Ms Foster’s “magical day” at the new venue she had worked to publicise heralded the short term closure of the restaurant that only opened a month before.

The wedding of Daniel Sidoti and Sophie Foster was a magical event but it caused COVID to spread, and led to the closure of the restaurant where it was held. Credit: Alex Carlyle

Like thousands of cafés and restaurants across NSW, Shell House’s restaurants and bars temporarily closed in the week before Christmas because staff and patrons were infected with COVID-19 from a range of sources.

Other venues reduced their hours, and cut menus because of booking cancellations and staff in isolation.

Ms Foster said despite following all rules and encouraging masks, check-ins and rapid tests at her wedding - which occurred days after the state re-opened and dropped mask mandates - it turned into a “most unfortunate event”.

Nobody knows the cause of the outbreak, but it coincided with a spike in case numbers across the state.

The high of the wedding faded when the best man, the mother of the groom, her husband’s sister and staff at the venue, including the operator of Shell House, Brett Robinson, and his wife tested positive.

The end of December had turned into a real crisis, said Mr Robinson, the chief executive of the Point Group which also operates Bondi Beach Public Bar, The Dolphin Hotel and Hotel Harry in Surry Hills.

“We had been all so happy to put on the wedding,” he said.

When COVID spread, Shell’s venues ran short of team members - including waiters and chefs who were difficult to replace. “We had to cancel a huge New Year’s Eve. I couldn’t guarantee people’s safety, I couldn’t guarantee that our staff would remain safe, or that we would have enough staff to be successful. ”

Brett Robinson at Shell House.Credit: Carlos Walters

Wes Lambert, the chief executive of Restaurant and Catering Australia, said nearly every Australian restaurant or cafe had been affected in some way by the rise in daily COVID-19 cases to Sunday’s 18,278.

To help hospitality recover when the worst was over, his organisation had asked the NSW government to follow South Australia’s example and provide stimulus grants and relaunch another program like last year’s Job Saver.

“At the moment, thousands of hospitality businesses have chosen simply not to open for the holidays and thousands more were forced to shut due to lack of staff or lack of bookings, or limit their services, opening hours due to a lack of staff,” he said.

“The biggest problem is how to help business recover from lost sales due to the density restrictions and abysmal consumer confidence. The only way to solve the problem is to learn to live with COVID-19 so that we can increase confidence,” said Mr Lambert.

Wes Lambert, the chief executive of Restaurant and Catering Australia, is asking the NSW government to help the hospitality industry recover from the latest outbreak in covid cases. Credit: Renee Nowytarger

The Minister for Hospitality and Racing Kevin Anderson said he recognised the challenges that hospitality venues faced with staffing. He was continuing to monitor what options were available to “help businesses stay open, to keep the lights on and keep people at work”.

Reacting to Mr Lambert’s call for funding, a NSW Treasury spokesman said though JobSaver and the Business Grant program ended in November and October respectively, NSW’s COVID-19 economic recovery strategy provided $2.8 billion. Some ongoing programs that would assist the hospitality sector included last year’s extension of Dine and Discover and Stay NSW vouchers, reductions in payroll tax, and a range of rebates, including funds to expand or create outdoor eating areas.

Mr Lambert said the sector welcomed the change in the definition of close contacts and the decision to reopen the economy but “COVID-19 was raging through the community, and many hospitality staff are infected or close contacts.”

The dramatic turnaround in approach had confused the public, said Mr Lambert.

The spread of COVID in December affected sales at popular venues like Bungalow 8 on King Street Wharf.Credit: Sydney Morning Herald

“The government spent two years conditioning the public every day at 11am to be worried about case numbers. You can’t just stand up and say: ‘Don’t worry about case numbers, but by the way we have had more case numbers this week than we have had in the entire two years’.

“People are voting with their feet, and what we are hearing about is cancelled bookings mainly due to customers simply not wanting to get COVID-19 [or worried about] vulnerable family members or about travel plans,” he said.

Mr Lambert - whose organisation represents 47,000 cafes, restaurants and catering businesses across Australia - said it opposed lockdowns. But policies on mask-wearing and social distancing in place from mid-October to December had helped hospitality grow to exceed levels in 2019/2020.

Some restaurants also saw bookings rise again when the government introduced a new definition of close contacts, which meant someone visiting a restaurant was unlikely to be defined that way.

In Sydney and Melbourne, about 50 people who had cancelled bookings for New Year’s Eve rebooked after the government’s announcement, said Paul Waterson, the chief executive of the Australian Venue Co.

Sales had slumped 15 per cent nationally, said Mr Waterson, the operator of 180 hospitality venues.

On New Year’s Eve, they fell 60 per cent as the public steered away from crowded venues such as Untied, Cargo and Bungalow 8.

In NSW and Victoria, sales suffered more, often because staff were isolating. “We have had dozens of infections primarily across NSW and Victoria, he said. “We’re doing rapid testing of staff, and we’re picking up a large number of asymptomatic infections. That’s enabled us to start isolating early. So, there is certainly a bit of virus out there.”

Mr Robinson backed the call for more support. “The whole of the hospitality industry is in the balance.” He said repeated opening and closings put hospitality venues and their employees in a precarious position. “People are relying on our business for a weekly income,” he said.

Stay across the most crucial developments related to the pandemic with the Coronavirus Update. Sign up to receive the weekly newsletter.