RESTORING residents' confidence to get out and about after the COVID-19 lockdown will be the most important thing for Redlands businesses over the Easter weekend, Chamber of Commerce president Rebecca Young said.
The state government announced a three-day lockdown on Monday morning as community cases increased.
On Tuesday, there were eight locally-acquired cases from two different clusters. Queensland Health announced two exposure sites in Cleveland.
Current restrictions will be reviewed on Wednesday.
Ms Young said with the Redlands' ageing community, a three-day lockdown could have a two-week effect on consumers.
"With Job Keeper ending the lockdown comes at a critical time for businesses," she said.
"If we can get though the next three days to be able to reopen to full capacity for Easter hopefully impacts will be minimised.
"The key will be establishing confidence in the community to get out [and] about safely after lockdown."
Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland said it was important to control community transmission of the COVID-19 UK strain to protect businesses before an important holiday trade season.
The lockdown would create challenges for businesses gearing up for the Easter long weekend, but could prevent long-term financial impacts.
Sectors like hospitality, tourism and health and beauty were particularly vulnerable, having been hit hard by COVID-19 restrictions.
Ms Young said JobKeeper had limited businesses' ability to retain quality staff and called for a more targeted approach to government support.
"I believe that JobKeeper needs to go," she said.
"We need to keep feedback from our (small-medium enterprises) flowing back to (the state government Small Business Department) and into the federal government so they can ensure future relief is fitting to business conditions."
CCIQ called for a stimulus package for businesses forced to close in declared hotspot areas, similar to disaster recovery funding.
Since the World Health Organisation declared a global pandemic on March 11, 2020, businesses have dealt with broad-scale shutdowns, including between March and May last year and two snap lockdowns in the first three months of 2021.
Ms Young said Redlands businesses had been agile and resilient in adapting to restrictions and changed conditions.
"I think it is key to be celebrating our businesses success even when lockdowns come in, where are our business are embracing what has been dealt to them and are adapting," she said.
"Mental health is the biggest concern, keeping business owners in a healthy mind set to tackle these tough conditions."
