Key points

• The Victorian government has recommended people wear masks indoors and in crowded settings and that employers consider work-from-home arrangements.
• Business groups have warned the changed advice is a blow to the CBD and will set back its recovery. 
• The CBD is still suffering because of the pandemic, with the City of Melbourne’s foot traffic sensors recording a 72.4 per cent drop on Monday compared with early 2020.

Business groups have asked the state government to say when its latest coronavirus advice will expire, amid concerns it could set back the recovery of Melbourne’s CBD by months.

The government recommended on Tuesday that people wear masks indoors and in crowded settings and that employers consider work-from-home arrangements. The advice follows a 53 per cent increase in the number of Victorians in hospital with COVID-19 over the past two weeks.

Bowen Holden, co-owner of Patricia Coffee, says tourist customers are back but the number of city workers remains down. Credit:Simon Schluter

The Victorian head of the Australian Industry Group, Tim Piper, said the changed advice would significantly affect Melbourne’s CBD as companies that had told their staff to be in the office two or three days a week reconsider that position.

“It is a blow to the CBD but it depends how quickly we can pull out of this current round of infections,” he said. “This will put us back a few months. While this isn’t a mandate, it is quite an imposing position for the government to take.

“We feel like we are just about out of it, and now we are not.“

CBD traders bore the brunt of the economic impact from successive lockdowns in Melbourne after early 2020, and foot traffic in the CBD is yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels. The City of Melbourne’s foot traffic sensors showed that Monday’s pedestrian activity was about 70 per cent of that recorded on Monday, February 10, in 2020, before the pandemic.

Paul Guerra, head of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said his organisation had asked the government to confirm how long the advice would remain in place.

“That’s the information we’ve asked for,” he said. “I think this is only going to be for a short period of time once this peak [of infections] is over.”

Guerra said businesses wanted to do the right thing and keep employees safe.

“Will that mean a bit extra working from home? Probably, and in some cases they’ll revert fully to working from home,” he said. “One of the downsides to that is that some businesses won’t get the customer traffic that they’ve had previously.”

City of Melbourne acting Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece has warned of another challenging period for the CBD. Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui

City of Melbourne acting Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece said support was needed from all levels of government for Melbourne’s cafes, restaurants, shops and services.

“The health of Victorians must continue to be our number one priority, but we know from experience that government recommendations to wear masks and consider work-from-home arrangements significantly reduce the number of office workers in the city,” he said.

“This will be another very challenging period for those people working in and running small businesses in the city, which cannot be underestimated.”

Bowen Holden, co-owner of Patricia Coffee in the CBD, said he was fortunate to have an established customer base, which meant business was only down to 70 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

“We’re seeing a lot of tourists, which is really good,” he said. “We’re obviously not seeing as many people working in the city as before.”

Holden expected the changed advice to prompt a drop in the number of people coming to the city, but he said the wintry weather was also a factor.

“People are just checking the weather forecasts and deciding it’s easier to stay at home, which you can’t really blame anyone for,” he said. “The first place to get hit with all these things is the CBD.”

Elisa Colak, talent leader at EY, said the consultancy firm would provide the government’s advice to employees and let them make their own decisions on whether to come to the office.

EY talent leader Elisa Colak expects a drop in the number of people coming into the consultancy firm’s Melbourne offices.Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui

“I think people will probably think twice about coming in, and I think particularly in Melbourne it is freezing right now,” she said. “I’m glad that it’s not a mandate. From where we stand we’ve always had flexibility and we will continue to do that.”

Colak said EY had about 30 to 40 per cent of its team in the office and some staff members had found there were disadvantages to working from home.

“I have people saying, ‘My gas bill was $1000, I’m going to come to the office,’ ” she said. “It is expensive to work from home.”

There were 737 Victorians in hospital with the coronavirus on Tuesday.

The state government has been contacted for comment.

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