By Renju Jose

SYDNEY, (Reuters) – Australia’s largest state, New South Wales was hit by the worst pandemic. On Wednesday, Omicron infection levels soared, causing staff shortages which have caused disruptions in supply chains and hampered recovery.

Australian business are struggling with the increasing numbers of employees who have been ordered to leave for illness or to remain in isolation due to close personal contacts. However, the virus is also making it difficult for customers to travel from the entertainment, hospitality and airline sectors. They have already been through several lockdowns in recent years.

Alexi Boyd of the Council of Small Business Organisations stated Wednesday that “essentially (small businesses are) in a lockdown…there is very little support available to them keeping their doors open.”

Australia had around 100,000 daily infected people on Wednesday, a record high. New South Wales was the worst affected state, suffering 21 deaths on Wednesday. There were 42 new deaths.

ANZ stated in a research paper that labour shortages have slowed household spending. This was compared to the lockdown conditions experienced in Sydney and Melbourne which are Australia’s most populous cities.

Prior to the Omicron epidemic, when it erupted around Christmas time, the economy had shown remarkable strength. The coronavirus lockdowns lifted in November, which resulted in a much faster increase of employment, while retail sales also increased for the second month straight.

Supermarket chains are under pressure to improve supply chain performance. Coles Group (OTC:) Purchase limits were reintroduced for toilet paper, certain meat products, and some medicines.

At the start of an election year, Scott Morrison was criticised for his handling of Omicron. He has now proposed that Scott Morrison relax isolation rules to asymptomatic workers in advance of Thursday’s national cabinet meeting.

Head of Melbourne’s Chapel Street Precinct – a local marketing agency representing about 2,200 businesses – said that the Novak Djokovic controversy has created “the perfect distraction” for Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews, and Morrison.

Chrissie Maus, general manager of Djokovic stated that the Djokovic trial is a reminder that not enough attention has been paid to small business destruction.

A court in Australia affirmed Monday the government’s cancellation of Djokovic’s visa, but it was based on questions about his medical exemption status. However, he is still at risk of being deported.