Highlights
- NSW residents were relieved as the state emerges from lockdown on Monday
- Only fully vaccinated residents are being given new freedoms
- Businesses are taking a cautious approach as they reopen and celebrate the easing of restrictions.
Hairdressser Lovely Dato who runs Elaina Love Hair and Beauty, is over the moon as she adorns her salon with Christmas decors.
Her business is in Blacktown, where people were subjected to extra restrictions, like a curfew, over the past few months. But there was so much excitement and demand for haircuts and the salon was now fully booked for the next three weeks.
"We hadn’t opened the business in months so I’m very happy and excited to see our clients back"
"I'm really grateful for my clients because they've been very understanding. Some of them are not vaccinated yet and would like to wait until December when they are allowed to avail our services"
Freedom day was a mix of worry and excitement for Chef Nina Cruz of Sizzling Filo restaurant. She said there had been a lot of anxiety, but it was great to be back.
"We're very very excited actually we are getting a lot of inquiries and booking requests. We are trying to test the water first because of the density limitations. We're taking reservations but not a hundred per cent."
But there had been nerves about what to say to unvaccinated customers.
Most businesses are confident that they will be able to operate safely but there's still a lot of confusion about the various rules they'll have to navigate.
"That’s something out of our hands and we cannot control if it is mandated by the government. We have procedures on how to deal with people or customers who are a bit difficult."
"At the moment our focus is more on safety for everyone not just of our patrons but also of our employees"
ALSO READ/LISTEN TO
