COVID in Ballarat: Grocery shopping safe as supermarkets reassure

This comes as Victorian health authorities confirm they are working on a nuanced approached to fully vaccinated supermarket workers to ease the pressure on staff furloughed in quarantine after potential exposures.

Country Grocers IGA in Ballan juggled a skeleton staff and slightly shorter opening hours on Wednesday after receiving notification from the health department the night before the store was deemed a tier two exposure site. See new exposure sites and times for Daylesford and Ballan here.

About 50 per cent of staff were forced to seek a COVID test on Wednesday and can return to work as soon as they receive a negative test result.

IGA Ballan management had forensic cleaner Tact Biorecovery on site within an hour of the health department notice to start a deep clean and the overnight process allowed the store to safely open at 8am.

Ryan's IGA Pleasant Park, on Pleasant Street in Ballarat, was named a tier two exposure site a fortnight ago and remains fielding customer concerns about whether the store was open and safe.

This reflects a statewide issue with supermarkets featuring prominently on the Victorian health department's growing exposure site list in the latest COVID outbreak. The other key issue has been staff shortages, crippling a chance for people to keep their shelves stocked.

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Victoria's acting chief health officer Ben Cowie said there were discussions at national level and the supermarket industry in how to better control potential exposure size or transmission in supermarkets to keep people safe and to protect an essential service.

Professor Cowie said vaccinations were key to public health responses nuanced by whether you were fully vaccinated or not.

Professor Cowie likened the need for a changed exposure approach in supermarkets to change underway in healthcare and aged care settings.

"There is a fundamental issue, totally agree. Particularly for a society where, you know, supermarkets have really become, or, always are, a fundamental need for all of us," Professor Cowie said.

"It is an essential service, if there ever was one."

COVID exposure sites are deemed safe by Victoria's health department excepting during officially listed exposure times.

Tier one listings require everyone present in that period to get a COVID test and isolate for 14 days.

Tier two listings require everyone present in that time to get a COVID test and isolate until a negative test result, typically within 24 hours.

Ballarat Health Services made clear during the city's outbreak sites were otherwise safe and encouraged people to keep supporting community businesses, particularly those impacted.

For IGA Ballan, COVID exposure continues a tumultuous few months after storms heavily impacted the store and its sister IGA in Trentham in early June.

The store chalked up some of its biggest sales the past fortnight with Ballarat in lockdown with residents from neighbouring towns avoiding the city.

Allister Lee, who is in the Country Grocers' management team, estimated sales on Wednesday were 60 per cent down on a normal day.

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Mr Lee said it had been tough, juggling staff and reassuring customers, because owners felt a responsibility to the community. He said the store felt the impacts of COVID exposures among suppliers' sites but the likes of Bake and Grind bakery in Ballarat North had stepped up to help.

Ben Ryan, from Ryan's IGA in Pleasant Park, said COVID safety was constantly front of mind for his team, which considered their role a community service.

Like the IGA in Ballan, Ryan's had a tight COVID-safe plan ready to enact as soon as they were deemed a tier two site earlier this month. Deep-cleaning was immediately underway and all staff were COVID tested within a couple of hours - a remarkable feat, Mr Ryan said, considering testing demand early in the Ballarat outbreak.

Mr Ryan said there was underlying unease and uncertainty Ballarat-wide but Ryan's IGAs took their obligation incredibly seriously, particularly with older and vulnerable customers.

Their stores are embedded in communities, away from major shopping areas, and Mr Ryan wanted to reassure their stores were safe for all in their community.

"We're in local communities and we see ourselves like a pantry for the community - lots of people pop in most days to pick up whatever they might need," Mr Ryan said.

"We want to do whatever we have to do to get groceries to people...We want older people to know it is safe to go out, to get what they need and know we are open."

Ballarat Trades and Labour Council secretary Brett Edgington said COVID exposures were heavily impacting supermarkets and pharmacies, both essential services.

Mr Edgington said his counterpart in Shepparton said the problem in that region's outbreak had not been case numbers, but the crippling of staff numbers furloughed in exposure sites.

Supermarkets and pharmacies were places people could go in lockdowns, unless quarantining, and needed to safely access.

Mr Edgington said the potential for safe, nuanced returns for fully vaccinated staff would be impactful for a largely casual workforce and high community need.

As Ballarat re-opens, Mr Edgington said reduced working hours of some venues made it hard for many to access state government COVID relief support.

Mr Edgington said while vaccines were important, it was vital people keep safe behaviours - such as mask-wearing, QR codes, hand hygiene and physical distancing - to reduce exposure site impacts.

There were 17 active COVID cases in the Grampians region on Wednesday, including 13 in City of Ballarat. One new Ballarat case was linked to a known infection and one in Ballan was linked to a Melbourne exposure site.

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