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THE ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
What is the Corona Virus?
COVID-19 is a respiratory illness caused by a new virus. Symptoms include fever, coughing, sore throat and shortness of breath. The virus can spread from person to person, but good hygiene can prevent infection.
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause respiratory infections. These can range from the common cold to more serious diseases.
COVID-19 is the disease caused by a new coronavirus. It was first reported in December 2019 in Wuhan City in China.
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What symptoms should I watch out for?
- The virus can cause a range of symptoms, ranging from mild illness to pneumonia. People may experience:
- Fever;
- Flu-like symptoms such as coughing, sore throat and headaches;
- Difficulty breathing in some cases.
- If you become unwell and suspect you may have symptoms of novel coronavirus, you should seek medical attention as soon as possible
What precautions should I take?
- Everyone should practise good hygiene and other measures to protect against infections. These measures include:
- Clean your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds, or an alcohol-based hand rub.
- Cover your nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing with tissue or a flexed elbow
- Avoid close contact with anyone with cold or flu-like symptoms.
- Practice cough etiquette (keep away from other people, cover coughs and sneezes with disposable tissues or clothing, and clean your hands.
- Social distancing (avoid non essential meetings or gatherings, and keep a distance of 1.5 metres).
- If you are after medical advice and your general practitioner is not able to speak with you, you can call healthdirect on 1800 022 222.
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Advance Cessnock City has compiled a range of information on Coronavirus (COVID-19), which includes the Government's ongoing economic response and support which has been announced:
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CLEVER BUSINESSES FINDING AN OPPORTUNITY...
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Some Hunter Region businesses have embraced positive community spirit, while others have used the public response to essential items as an opportunity to engage their customers! We hope you enjoy some of these examples:
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Has your business been proactive in a positive Corona Virus response?
Tag Advance Cessnock City on Facebook or Linked In.
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DON'T LET CORONA SCRUNCH OR FOLD OUR ECONOMY!
There has already been an interesting public response which has generated cultural and economic impacts connected to panic buying and quarantine based consumption.
- What other emerging opportunities are there for businesses at the moment?
- What can businesses do now to take advantage of uncertain times, and remain competitive and productive?
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We've summarised some of the opportunities we've identified for small businesses.
Adapt
Expand your product lines or service capacities to respond to customer needs. It’s not all about packaged food and toilet paper! Enhance your online presence. Offer home deliveries, specials on freight, or offer your services online as customers won’t want (or can’t) go to shopping centres.
Adjust
Create or review flexible working or work from home policies. Grow using remote teams, conduct meetings online. Promote cashless businesses at the moment, take a culture of hygiene.
Improve
Opportunities to work on improving your business systems, risk management, update templates, procedures, and policies. Time to do essential upgrades to hard or soft infrastructure. Review your business security, back up your systems, firewalls.
Reflect
Do you need to discuss your situation with your insurance broker? Time to look into your income insurance, superannuation, coverage and policies. Tax planning and stimulus response will be important.
Advance
Can you use this time to secure and book professional development opportunities for your staff online? Is it time to book in with a business advisor or test and refine your products, marketing strategies or business plans.
Restore
If you operate a small business and you are finding it tough, it could be a good time to take some personal leave, step back and time out to reassess. Many permanent staff are booking time off to ensure casual employees still retain shifts. Going on a short break or domestic holiday can help stimulate tourism businesses.
Recover
Have a mindset focused on abundance as opposed to scarcity which is driving panic buying. Support your community, and reach out to your business networks such as your chambers of commerce – even if it’s online!!
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CANCELLATION OF PUBLIC EVENTS
On 15 March 2020, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard invoked emergency powers in the Public Health Act to force the immediate cancellation of public events with more than 500 people. Read more
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STIMULUS PACKAGE
The Government’s economic support package is proportionate, timely and scalable to respond to the economic challenges presented by the spread of the coronavirus. Find information here: https://advancecessnock.com.au/coronavirus/
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 BUSINESSES WITH EMPLOYEES
According to SafeWork NSW, Employers should:
- make alcohol-based hand sanitising dispensers available in prominent places around the workplace and ensure they are regularly refilled
- make sure that staff, contractors and customers have access to facilities where they can wash their hands with soap and water
- actively promote good hand hygiene in bathroom and kitchen amenities
- ensure an adequate supply of paper tissues is available throughout the workplace
- provide closed bins for hygienic disposal of used tissues
- actively promote good respiratory hygiene in prominant places where close customer or worker contact occurs
According to SafeWork NSW Employers must, in consultation with workers and/or their Health and Safety Representative:
- identify and assess the likely risks at the workplace and those associated with the way work is performed (eg: are workers/customers more than 1.5 metres away from each other; layout of workstations; design of work activities; etc)
- implement suitable control measures to eliminate or minimise risks, this may include encouraging social distancing through flexible working arrangements, reducing non-essential face to face meetings/gatherings and promoting the use of virtual communication channels (telephone/video)
- Expert advice may be required for high risk work environments or tasks
According to SafeWork NSW Employers must provide information and instruction to workers and others:
- to stay at home if they are sick – even if the symptoms are mild, and
- that any unwell workers with compatible symptoms to those of COVID-19 be sent home immediately, and advised to call their General Practitioner, call healthdirect on 1800 022 222 or visit their local Emergency Department
- to reinforce and support good personal hygiene, including good hand and respiratory hygiene. Display posters promoting regular hand washing, good respiratory hygiene, symptoms to look out for and when to stay home (available from NSW Health or the World Health Organization (WHO)), and combine this with other communication measures used in the workplace (e.g. regular briefings;information on the intranet; phone and email contacts for further information etc)
- to advise of any changes to work arrangements (e.g. staff working from home, revised customer service standards)
- this information must be shared with other businesses your workers may be in close contact with.
TOP TIPS
- Teleworking (including working from home, teleconferences and video communication etc) will reduce close contact between workers and assist your business to keep operating while your workers stay safe.
- Keep employees informed: briefings, online, advice lines, etc. Informed workers who feel safe at work are less likely to be unnecessarily absent.
- Ensure access to work-based counselling and support services continue to be available as it is likely some workers will suffer psychological consequences.
- Ensure workers are consulted about skills, training needs and workloads before they are moved to new work areas or transition during suspended work.
- Review all policies and procedures used for the outbreak and/or pandemic, including business continuity and other plans and update / adapt systems.
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Some websites to monitor for up-to-date business advice include the following:
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Business NSW's March 2020 Business Conditions Survey
Due to the current mounting pressures on businesses, Business NSW are requesting businesses participate in a Business Conditions Survey to better understand the impact of coronavirus, bushfires, drought and other weather-related events. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6LKJR5W
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Free Business Advice Service
A free advisory service is available to small businesses through NSW Business Connect. Advice is offered about managing cash flow, planning the next steps, accessing financial support schemes and connecting to additional support. A trusted local business advisor can meet you at your premises or another convenient location. Register at http://industry.nsw.gov.au/businessconnect or call 1300 134 359 to book a session with a local advisor.
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MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING
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FEELING OVERWHELMED?
The following are free services available 24 hours a day, seven days a week:
Mental Health Line – 1800 011 511
Lifeline – 13 11 14
Mensline – 1300 789 978
Kids Helpline – 1800 55 1800
Beyondblue – 1300 22 4636
If you or someone you know is in immediate danger call 000.
More resources available online from: https://headtohealth.gov.au/service-providers
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What about the wellbeing of your business?
We know that good business health supports good mental health, and vice versa. We want to ensure that small business owners have the tools to manage the challenges so they can focus on enjoying their business.
The ASBFEO's My Business Health portal provides links and resources.
If you’re trying to improve your own mental health, or support somebody else with mental health issues, the Australian Government's Head to Health provides links to trusted Australian online and phone supports, resources and treatment options.
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UPDATES ON LOCAL EVENTS
Kombi Festival: Postponed.
Kurri Kurri Nostalgia Festival: Cancelled and planning for 26-28 March 2021.
Hunter Valley Steamfest: Cancelled for 2020.
Cessnock STOMP Festival: Postponed for later in 2020.
A Little Bit of Italy in Broke: Postponed.
Lovedale Long Lunch: Suspended ticket sales pending a decision.
For more information on events contact individual organisers, or to keep the public informed on events you organise, please contact the Hunter Valley Visitor Information Centre vic@cessnock.nsw.gov.au 4993 6700.
Please continue to support our local businesses and the economy. Many visitors might cancel their trip due to an event no longer proceeding, while it may be safe to still come into the region with precautions and following all current advices. For those concerned about travelling in Australia, please monitor Tourism Australia's travel resource: https://www.australia.com/en-in/travel-alerts/coronavirus.html
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