On Friday, pubs across NSW will again be placed under strict regulations by the state government, in response to Coronavirus flare-ups.
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While the new restrictions are only directed at hotels, their re-instalment is a cause for wider concern in the hospitality industry.
The Cowra Services Club is expecting to be indirectly affected by the returned restrictions, but Manager Lloyd Garratt is confident that the community will adjust to more change.
"I think that they understand that there is no such thing as the normal anymore," Mr Garratt said ahead of Friday's changes.
"Nobody knows what the normal looks like because it is changing every day. We all need to know, customers as well as staff, that it is different when they come in [to the club].
"They must come in and sit down, they cannot socialise like they used to."
He acknowledges that our ingrained greeting habits, such as shaking hands, are difficult to break but says our mindset must change in order to avoid the risk of transmitting or contracting COVID-19.
"I have to bear in mind that my clientele is in the age category of 60 to 80, the high-risk category. For me, I must be conscious of that, and I have to make sure they're safe when I come in here. I have to make sure my staff are safe."
The key, he says, is in the community's ability to understand the reason behind the regulations - that they are for the safety of the patrons.
All people, members and non-members alike, who enter the premises now need to record their name and a contact number, which are retained for 28 days.
"We've got less furniture out than we would normally have. We have put some away because it makes it easier for us to control the numbers... Nobody moves any furniture or does anything like that anymore, which they probably would have done before. They just come in, their table is ready, they go and order their meal, they sit down and then the waitress brings the food over to the table."
The club has also had to suspend many of its services and neighbourhood programs, such as the courtesy bus and sponsorships.
"Club grants programs would have been rolling out now, we'd probably be handing out anywhere between fifteen and twenty thousand dollars," Mr Garratt said.
"We are not doing that. The sponsorship to the sporting fields and sporting bodies; people are not coming to ask us, because they know the financial situation that we are in.
"So, it is not just us that are hurting financially, it's the whole community."
These programs are likely to be suspended for a longer period of time than first thought, with the ongoing presence of the COVID-19 virus.
Mr Garratt says that the club has been "vigilant" in following the regulations, with more staff, COVID marshals and social distancing being observed.
The club, he said, is by no means letting its guard down.
"It is great to be open. For us, the staff, the morale, and the community. But we just need to continue to be careful. These are worrying times, and we've got to stay on top of it, and do what we can," he said.
