Pubs, clubs and bars won't open until at least September - but owners are warning you shouldn't expect a night out to be anything like it was before they closed down
- Venues unlikely to open until September and will be the subject of strict rules
- Professor Peter Collignon said full re-opening may take months of low infections
- When pubs start pouring drinks, there may be limits on number of patrons inside
- Venues could be forced to adhere to one person per four square metres rule
- Outside dining may be mandatory, and table service could be only option at first
- Hand sanitiser stations may become the norm to stop the spread of infection
- Infection prevention expert said easing of restrictions would need to be gradual
Pubs, bars and clubs in Australia are unlikely to open until at least September - and when they do, patrons can expect the strict enforcement of social distancing rules until a vaccine is found, owners and infection disease experts have warned.
While there were only 13 new cases of the virus confirmed in Australia on Monday, state premiers have maintained there's is no end in site to the ban on bars, cafes and restaurants announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison on March 23.
And several publicans and bar owners in Sydney and Melbourne who spoke to Daily Mail Australia said there's many hurdles to opening up again.
'We've gone to all this trouble of shutting down, we just want to be sure we are ready before we open up again,' one Melbourne-based publican said.
A group enjoy last drinks at the Pyrmont Bridge Hotel on March 22, the last night before pubs were shut down across Australia. An infectious disease expert has warned it could be as far away as September before pubs start pouring drinks again
'And is anyone going to even want to go out again when they realise the extreme measures they will be subjected to? It's not really fun if security keeps telling you what to do, where to stand, or won't let you in.'
Another described his fears of playing 'Russian Roulette' with a virus for which there is still no cure.
'We get it, the federal government can't just keep bankrolling staff, but who wants to be the pub that infects 400 people? You don't recover from something like that, ever, even though it's not your fault,' he said.
'Hospitality venues carry the most risk of anyone. Until there's a cure, and that's not for another year they are saying, a night out just won't be the same.'
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The fears of publicans and bar owners are echoed by the Australian National University microbiology professor, Peter Collignon, who said it could take months of sustaining low COVID-19 infection rates for restrictions to be fully relaxed on high-contact gatherings like those at pubs and clubs.
He said it could be five months before pubs are reopened, and it would be contingent on venues putting in place measures to maintain social distancing.
One of those rules could be limiting the number of patrons in a venue at any one time.
Table spacing like that observed at Souths Juniors clubs in Sydney (pictured) could be part of the first stages of relaxed restrictions in pubs
That may mean adhering to the one person per four square metres rule imposed in the days leading up to pub venues being shut.
Another would be making pubs and restaurants sit-down only to prevent transmission of the virus between customers - and spacing tables apart.
A limit of having one person ordering at any given time may also be imposed - or a table service-only rule to stop excessive social contact when queuing at the bar.
'Outside is safer than inside so perhaps outside dining and beer gardens could open first with each table at least two metres apart,' Professor Collignon told Daily Mail Australia.
The president of the Australasian College for Infection Prevention and Control Professor Phil Russo added any reopening of pubs would have to be done in a gradual manner.
'What we expect is a staged rollback of restrictions so the government might extend the limit in venues to ten people first and wait three weeks to see the effects,' he told Daily Mail Australia.
Pictured: An empty restaurant area at the Notting Hill Pub in Melbourne on March 23. Australian National University microbiology professor Peter Collignon said venues may at first need to close their indoor seating area to reduce coronavirus transmission
Professor Russo said the reopening of bars to the public may also be conditional on enough Australians signing up to the government's newly-announced contact tracing app.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the tracing app, which will use mobile phone data to track who has been in contact with coronavirus patients, needed 40 per cent of the population to download it to be effective.
'If there was widespread use of the app it would be easier to contact trace people better in pubs in the case of an infection,' Professor Russo said.
Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said ahead of a national cabinet meeting on Tuesday 'the risk will be far greater than the reward' to open restaurants and bars at the present stage of the pandemic.
Pictured: Sign at he Coogee Bay Hotel in Sydney in the days before a full ban on pubs was announced. Limits on the numbers of patrons allowed like the one shown above could come back again when pubs reopen
Health officials are expected to advise the meeting about the possibility of relaxing a ban on elective surgeries put in place last month to free up beds for coronavirus patients.
University of Queensland virologist Professor Ian Mackay said surgical theatres were being considered because they were already heavily sterilised environments.
Pubs and cafes would be much further down the list though, he said, because of the much higher level of social contact they involve.
'We can start looking at relaxing limits on smaller gatherings of one or more people -but once we get up to a number like 10 we are increasing the risk of the virus spreading again,' he said.
Pictured: Social distancing at Souths Juniors Maroubra in Sydney's eastern suburbs in March before pubs, bars and restaurants were banned. The one person per four square metres rule may be introduced
'We have got to remember if there's one person with the virus in the community we could start another curve of infections.
'We need to be really careful - even if it means keeping certain measures and withstanding the pain of economic losses.'
The Australian Hotels Association said in a statement they were not aware of any proposed changes to the government's ban on pubs and restaurants.
The association said at the time of the ban it would have a 'devastating impact' on the industry.
Professor Mackay said Australia needed continuing high testing levels to ensure COVID-19 infection rates had been suppressed.
'I think it's going to be a case of we see how we go, keep testing and we keep watching and learning from what other countries are doing,' he said.
Australia's testing levels have been revealed to be some of the highest in the world in recent figures.
Just under 20,000 people-per-million have been tested, compared with 11,666 people-per-million in U.S.
In the UK, 7,101 people-per-million have been tested and in France that figure is 7,103.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the infection rate was a reflection of how seriously Australians were taking distancing orders.
Australia is flattening the coronavirus curve, recording just 13 new coronavirus cases on Monday
'When it comes to social distancing, quarantine, isolation measures, we'll continue to take the medical advice and that's served Australia well,' he said in Canberra.
Premier Andrews said the numbers were not an invitation to roll back the rules.
'They are simply a validation that this strategy is working and we'll have options if we can continue to see this sort of performance,' he said.
