The Snowy River  Mail took a wander around Nicholson Street businesses in Orbost last Thursday morning to have a chat to their owners and staff who were still operational at that time.

Orbost Newsagency owner, Sharon Kurrle, said, “I urge people that are still coming into the stores to observe the signs and adhere to them”.

“The other day I had customers all piled up on top of each other and encroaching on our staff,” she said.

“Our staff are putting themselves at risk by still being able to provide a service to the community, the least the customers can do is take note and if not for our staff, for the other customers in the shop at the time.”

Over the road at Café One 2 Five, staff member, Katrina Thomas, said they were still trading but takeaways only.

“We are still steady, it’s mainly take away coffee and we are thankful that we still have the firey catering going on,” she said.

“If we didn’t have that catering, it probably would not be possible to stay open.”

With school holidays being forced to start earlier than anticipated, it has proven difficult for some work arrangements, however Katrina said she’s lucky.

“I am so lucky, my bosses have been great and worked around my kids. We are lucky because when this is all over, the 10 staff employed at the café have been told that we will still have jobs to return too.”

Another local resident was concerned with the current warnings in place.

“The government is telling us to stay home yet I have to be at the supermarket every single day because I have six people in my household to feed,” they said.

“The current restrictions in place due to the panic buying simply do not allow me to fill a trolley like I usually would.”

Orbost Home Hardware owner, Brian Harrison, is still open and through his Hardware Association hopes their services will be listed as essential if a full lockdown was to take place.

“Most regional hardware stores provide gas and we also provide through BOC oxygen to the hospital,” Brian said.

“If a full lockdown was to occur, we’d simply close the front doors, accept EFTPOS payment via the telephone and look at a delivery service around town to ensure people were able to get what they needed.

“Sales earlier in the week were much stronger, however it is starting to slow down now and I am pleased about that. It means people are listening to the warnings and trying to keep each other safe.

“We’ve had a big run on pain and we even ran out of potting mix the other day, people preparing for how to use their time if a stronger lockdown were to occur.”

IMAGE: Part time Orbost resident, Spencer Jeffrey, was in the Orbost Newsagency on Thursday checking his winning ticket, which gave him an extra $7.50 in his pocket. S129-1217