Wollongong's Lagoon Restaurant can stay open for NYE after COVID case visit

"It's just the nature of the current environment, unfortunately," owner Andrew Harrison said.

But Mr Harrison said his venue was deemed low-risk because of its large size and good ventilation, with the customer in question having dined in the al fresco section outside.

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He said the restaurant had been made as COVID-safe as possible and staff followed strict protocols to minimise any risk, including wearing double masks, maintaining distance from one another on breaks, and taking rapid antigen tests before their shifts if they felt they might have been at all exposed.

To limit the possibility of any customers or staff welcoming in the new year with COVID, Mr Harrison said there were other measures in place for New Year's Eve, including the usual density limit of one person per two square metres, keeping all windows open, and limiting the dancefloor to the outdoors area.

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Earlier this week, the owners of Resin Brewing in Bulli made the decision to shut their doors after a staff member returned a positive result on a rapid antigen test.

While the employee did not have direct contact with customers, owners Brendan Dowd and Stephen House decided to close while awaiting the staff member's PCR test results to be safe, and asked their workers to self-isolate and monitor symptoms.

They hoped to reopen on January 4.

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