The latest round of COVID restrictions will kill off an Albion Park Rail cleaning business - and they've been knocked back for a NSW grant aimed to help small businesses.
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To further compound matters, co-owner Eddy Rolet has been hit with side effects from the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Mr Rolet and his wife Mary have been running Phil N Bel Cleaning Services for three and a half years.
During last year's COVID lockdowns they lost a lot of business, with just 10 of their 25 clients returning.
It's been much worse since restrictions were introduced last month.
"It started affecting our business on the 26th of June when the government first announced some restrictions," Mr Rolet said.
"People were straight on the phone because it was [the] Delta [variation] and it wasn't like the last one. As soon as the restrictions got announced on TV I started getting messages - 'cancelled', 'cancelled', 'cancelled'."
As of Monday, tighter restrictions mean that no cleaning of residential premises is permitted. While these new restrictions are only in place for two weeks at this stage, Mr Rolet said they've already signalled the death knell for his business.
"We're done - we won't be able to survive," he said.
"We've already got Telstra on our back, we've got Optus, we've got our real estate. I've got hearing aids that I'm paying off and I'm already getting messages from all of them.
"I've got suppliers who supply chemicals - I owe them money ... so we're in dire straits."
And there's no nest egg or savings to fall back on, Mr Rolet had drawn down on his superannuation to help the business survive through the 2020 lockdown.
Mr Rolet applied for NSW government assistance through the COVID-19 Business Support Grant that was rolled out on Monday.
Eligible businesses can receive between $7500 and $15,000. After an hour and a half trying to access the Service NSW site, he found he was ineligible because he hadn't yet registered for the GST.
Keira MP Ryan Park has had several meetings with Treasurer Dominic Perrottet about the economic pressures being felt by Illawarra businesses.
"I want small businesses to be given every opportunity to access these funds regardless of their size," Mr Park said.
"Assistance for Micro Businesses will be open from next Monday but I urge local small business owners to contact Service NSW to see how they can be supported.
"If they are falling through the cracks I would be happy to raise the issue directly with the Treasurer and his department."
On Monday Mr Rolet also got the bad news from his doctor that he is suffering bursitis in his right arm - a side effect of the first AstraZeneca vaccine he said affected one in 300,000 people.
"I've just come back from the doctors and he said don't have the second one," Mr Rolet said.
"I can barely move my right arm now."
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Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
