Hotels, bars, restaurants and cafes can now seat up to 40 people inside, and 70 outside. The new limits came into place from midnight on Sunday.

However for many venues struggling with more than six months of closures or restrictions, the expanded limits are providing little relief.

Nick Say, who runs the popular Westernport Hotel in San Remo and the Phillip Island Winery said he was disappointed at the latest round of announcements from the state government.

“While I’ve largely supported the government and the difficult decisions they’ve had to make, it seems a little ‘generic’ in its approach, and lacks an attention to detail I, along with fellow business owners, was looking forward to.

“Any increase in patron numbers is positive, but I feel like it’s time to be a little more specific in how each region is addressed.”

For Sarah Pedersen at Citrus and Vine, the announcement gives them more hope as they work towards reopening in November.

“The numbers are back to when we could open after the last lockdown. But we would need to encourage two sittings and be full every night (40 capacity limit) to try and break even with the hope of a little profit.”

Romina Scarlato from Pino’s Trattoria in Cowes welcomed the increase in diner numbers.

“It is great news to have the extra space indoors given that the weather is so unpredictable. To be able to accommodate that extra few tables inside will make a big difference to turning groups away,” she said.

“We have had such huge support from our local community and the wider regional visitation, we are just hoping that we can make more steps like this to responsibly increase capacity coming closer to the season.”

Samantha Parkin had just opened the doors on her new restaurant Sambreros in Cowes when the first lockdown occurred. She’s welcomed the easing of restrictions, although the new outdoor limits pose a challenge.

“We are both relieved and excited about the easing of restrictions and are just grateful to be able to return to work. As our business is in its infancy, being able to open for dine-in is a crucial part of surviving the pandemic.

“Although we have opened a new alfresco dining space, it certainly doesn't allow for 70 people so negotiating maximum outdoor numbers is proving difficult especially as it is not viable for footpath dining,” she said.

Over in San Remo, Paul Mannix at the Fisherman’s Co-op said the increased numbers was good news for many.

“This is good news for local hospitality businesses, especially the smaller operations with limited seating. This could mean “close to normal” for a lot of cafes. Looking forward, every business will need to find their “covid normal” to minimise the risk of transmission when cases inevitably pop up again,” he said.

The weekend announcement meant the Co-op could open up outdoor seating, although they are still not offering dine-in.

“We don’t want to push the social distancing boundaries with people placing food orders, buying seafood and sitting inside too. We’re dying to see the place buzzing with full tables inside, but we’ll just have to be patient for now.

“We’ve opened up the outdoor seating and spread out the tables, provided a smartphone sign-in, and have sanitiser everywhere,” he said.

More is needed

Nick Say said hospitality operators had “a history of being able to operate successfully in a highly regulated environment” and deserved more.

“I feel that we as an industry deserve credit for our strong track record. We deserve to be back to, at the very least, the numbers we were restricted to on our way into lock-down.

“This would allow us to begin planning for our peak season, to begin employing staff again, supporting our suppliers, booking music again and to be able to do what we got into this business to do – to provide hospitality to our loyal customers.”

Ben Fisher from the San Remo Hotel agrees.

“For us, it would have been nice to open up more, because we have been providing a Covid-safe environment. The hardest thing is our fixed costs. Electricity, rates, insurances, office costs, mortgage interest, it is all still accumulating.

“But we will work to whatever we can do.”

At Citrus and Vine, they’re crossing their fingers for another announcement soon, as “further reductions on restrictions will give us more breathing space”.

“We’re hoping to start to get Christmas functions, so numbers really need to increase so we have a fighting chance,” Sarah said.

“We lost six weddings along with many birthday celebrations this year and it’s been heartbreaking watching the days, weeks and months go by without operating like we were.”

Visitors welcome?

The lack of visitors from Melbourne remains a vexed issue for the island.

Some local residents have expressed concern about opening up too soon and seeing infections spread from Melbourne, as happened recently in Shepparton and Kilmore.

But for many businesses, the lack of tourists make it impossible to operate successfully.

“Not being able to have Melburnians still is another hit for us as a tourist island,” said Sarah Pedersen.

“But the local support has been amazing, and we can’t thank them enough for helping keep our businesses alive.”

At Sambreros, Samantha Parkin said they were “always looking at ways to ensure everyone is able to enjoy a Mexican feast safely and within the social distancing requirements”.

“We are definitely ready and looking forward to a big summer,” she said.

Nick Say agrees and said hopefully soon the island would be able to open up.

“We can’t wait to welcome everyone back to the Westernport and the winery, albeit in a ‘new-normal,’ but for now, it is what it is.

“We’re much luckier than our fellow business owners and residents of metropolitan Melbourne – our hearts go out to them.”