Residents of Hepburn Shire have been significantly affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
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Normally thousands of people visit the 'spa country' region throughout the year - for weekends away or to experience a range of unique festivals. But this year, COVID-19 restrictions have resulted in accommodation booking cancellations and a steep reduction in visitors to shops, restaurants and cafes instead.
While the largest proportion of residents are employed in the forestry and agriculture sector followed by the construction industry, 17.6 per cent of residents are employed in positions directly linked to tourism. For these people, the pandemic has had a serious impact.
Figures compiled by Taylor Fry from the Treasury and Australian Bureau of Statistics reveal that as of May, 46.7 per cent of local businesses had applied for JobKeeper.
This makes Hepburn Shire the most impacted local government area in the Central Highlands.
Further to this, Hepburn is ranked number four of 80 most affected areas in Victoria and ranked number 23 out of 506 most impacted local government areas across the nation.
What is council doing?
Hepburn Shire Council has had its Emergency Management Structure activated since March, with multiple staff meetings hosted every week, in addition to its Pandemic Municipal Operations Centre (PMOC).
The PMOC brings together key council staff, in addition to other agencies such as Victoria Police, Central Highlands Rural Health, St John's Ambulance, the Red Cross and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Representatives from all agencies meet at least once a week to work collaboratively and discuss the current response and steps towards recovery.
Council's Director of Infrastructure and Development Services, Bruce Lucas, said all relevant agencies had been working hard for months to support and protect the community.
While council has implemented numerous initiatives such as signage with health messaging and dots on footpaths encouraging social distancing, Mr Lucas said the fact there have only been two confirmed cases of the virus in the shire since the onset of the pandemic was a credit to the community as a whole for adhering to restrictions.
As a tourist town, the area most affected has been the shire's business sector, which Mr Lucas said council had been working to provide support to - by regularly visiting businesses that are still operating and engaging with those that have temporarily closed their doors so they are aware of the support which is available.
"Some businesses have been able to reinvent themselves or are continuing to operate in a modified way but other businesses have shut or closed their doors," Mr Lucas said. "We're trying to work with them to make sure that they are in a position to reopen."
Among other initiatives, a virtual relief centre has been set-up for people to call and request support, while rent relief is being provided for those in council facilities.
The payment period for animal registration has been extended and hardship provisions for rate payments are being promoted in an effort to ease financial worries.
And in order to support community projects despite the lockdowns, the council has created a COVID-19 community support grant program.
Health support
Central Highlands Rural Health Deputy CEO Phil Catterson said the service was now delivering double the amount of meals through the Meals on Wheels service since before the pandemic, after receiving government funding to provide emergency food relief.
The health service has also assisted the Good Grub Club to source ingredients and cook an extra 300 free meals for residents each week.
"With these extra meals plus our Meals on Wheels service, we are ensuring that we are dealing with some of the real crises that people are dealing with at the moment," Mr Catterson said.
With a high number of residents over the age of 65, there is a lot of anxiety about the virus and the need to isolate.
Mr Catterson said this was increasing isolation for many people, with many separated from their families. For vulnerable residents with no means of transport, St Johns Ambulance has stepped in, and has been transporting patients to COVID testing centres.
But despite restrictions put in place to limit the spread of the virus, Mr Catterson said it was important for people to continue to visit their general practitioner for any health concerns.
He urged people not to neglect medical care for health issues for fear of contracting the virus, as they could become gravely ill.
"It takes a lot more work to get you better again if you get really sick, so we really encourage people that if they need to see their GP, that they do so by either telehealth or face-to-face," Mr Catterson said.
"And if you need urgent care, make sure you attend as it is still open 24/7."
The health service is currently in the process of restructuring its mental health response, to ensure there are enough doctors for people to book appointments and seek support for any mental health or well-being concerns.
Police perspective
Victoria Police's Acting Senior Sergeant Matthew Flood is the Municipal Emergency Response Coordinator for the region.
For police, being a part of the PMOC group means simultaneously being able to share concerns with other agencies, as well as receive information that can assist them.
Before the second lockdown, Acting Senior Sergeant Flood was able to communicate how police were responding to compliance issues that were making headlines - such as large crowds gathering at the Daylesford Sunday Market and at Trentham Falls.
But it has also meant other agencies have been able to communicate what they are seeing - such as compliance concerns harboured by businesses.
This meant police were able to visit shops and provide tips and advice about how to operate in a COVID safe manner.
Police are also working collaboratively with other agencies on a holistic approach, to support people before issues which could stem from unemployment reach a crisis point.
So far the high rate of unemployment has not resulted in a spike in opportunistic theft from shops, burglaries or petrol drive-offs in the shire, but police are keeping a close eye on any possible trends.
One concern police have is that with increased financial pressure, it could be leading to an increase in family violence incidents that are not being reported during the lockdown as the victim-survivor is unable to safely do so.
Another concern is about mental health.
"A lot of people that have never been under such financial strain or uncertainty with their employment are all of a sudden finding themselves in very different life circumstances," Acting Senior Sergeant Flood said.
"That can obviously have a big impact on mental health."
As such, police are working with groups such as the Hepburn Family Violence Action Group to ensure people are supported and can access police intervention if they want to, as well as with the Ballarat-based Central Highlands Family Violence Investigation Unit to monitor patterns.
Preparing for recovery
Mr Lucas said unlike other emergencies such as a fire or flood, when services go through a distinct response phase followed by a relief and then a recovery phase, all three were occurring at once during COVID-19.
In order to plan for recovery, the council is implementing a 'buy local' campaign and is also establishing a community response and recovery taskforce and a business response and recovery taskforce.
The first will work to assist communities in the recovery process, including vulnerable people, while the latter will support businesses - in the short, medium and long term.
Mr Lucas said job stimulus employment would also be a key factor to the shire's recovery.
Acting Senior Sergeant Flood said as people were looking forward to the end of the second lockdown and numbers were continuing to improve, all agencies were turning their focus to when the shire reopens to visitors and how that could be facilitated in a safe manner.
And while there has been a lot of stress and anxiety in the community about 'tourists' potentially bringing the disease to the shire, it has brought out bad behaviour such as keying cars.
All agencies are urging people to be kind and considerate of others.
"Stay safe and be kind. Everybody's stressed and anxious about the lockdown, especially the second time around, but we all need to play our role, wear masks and practise social distancing," Mr Lucas said.
- To contact the virtual relief centre, call 5348 2306. If you or someone you know is in need of crisis support, phone Lifeline 13 11 14. For family violence support, phone 1800 RESPECT.
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