COVID-19 Update, 4th Jan 2022

I hope you and your loved ones are safe and well. I am aware that we have many members who either have tested positive to COVID-19, or like me are isolating as household contacts. I hope that those who are sick can access the care they need and wish all a speedy recovery. Naturally, please reach out to your friends in the club if you need support.

Your Committee and other leaders in the club are continuing to actively manage what is turning out to be a more challenging season than any of us had hoped for. The purpose of this note is to update you on several decisions we have made to ensure we keep our paid and volunteer lifesavers on the beach and provide a safe environment for our employees and our members.

SPECIFIC ACTIONS THAT WILL TAKE EFFECT IMMEDIATELY:

• The food and beverage service at The Club was suspended on Jan 3rd, primarily due to challenges brought on by staff unavailability. Our current plan is to re-open on Friday afternoon with a reduced service – details are below. While we are wanting to offer the service, we are not promoting large events at the Club.
• Our Nipper and Cadet program continue as planned for now. Naturally, we ask all participants and parents to follow the health advice being issued by the program leaders.
• A number of events have been postponed or cancelled:
  • Bridge class this week is cancelled. This will be assessed on a week-by-week basis;
  • The golf day has been postponed due to staff shortages at Portsea Golf Club;
  • President’s Club on Saturday has been cancelled;
  • Life Members lunch on Sunday has been postponed;
  • Paella night (Thursday) and Spit Roast (Sunday) have been cancelled this week.
• Club Championships will proceed as planned on the beach on Sunday 9th Jan;
• We are continuing to plan for the COVIDsafe delivery of the Portsea Swim Classic and Bay to Surf run, which will operate under our approved COVID plans. We are exploring alternatives to the traditional post-event celebrations for the volunteer workforce.
• Accommodation at the Club will only be available for those who NEED to stay at the Club due to lifeguarding, work or have a volunteer patrol the next day. Nice to stay is no longer a valid reason. All accommodation needs to be approved in advance Nik Rathmayr and the online form completed, which can be found here. The entire accommodation block and upstairs day patrol room remain off-limits to all

As we are getting used to – any of the above is subject to change!

THE CLUB – FOOD & BEVERAGE UPDATES:

Here is The Club’s current operating model as at Tuesday 4^th January 2022. We have modified our operating days and hours accordingly. The Club’s opening days and times for this coming week are:

• Wednesday 5th & Thursday 6th Jan – closed
• Friday 7th Jan: 4pm – late
• Saturday 8th Jan: 4pm – late
• Sunday 9th Jan: 4pm – late

The Club’s Food & Beverage service will be operating two booking times in the restaurant for a maximum of 3 hours sittings

• 4pm & 7pm sittings.
• people will be able to come for dinner and drinks on the deck on a ‘first in best dressed’ basis.
• a limited dinner menu will be offered.

We will endeavour to return to normal trade as soon as possible. Stay tuned to social media and website updates for the latest changes. We hope to see on the deck very soon.

As a lifesaving club, our priority is keeping our paid and volunteer lifesavers on the beach. Portsea Back Beach is at its busiest over the next few weeks and we know that there are people who will need rescuing. We can’t do that if our lifesavers have COVID or are at home isolating. So, if you or your family members fall into one of the categories who are required to be isolating, or are ‘at risk’, please stay away from the Club and all club activities.

Our entire Nipper, SRC and Cadet water safety crew and many of our Nipper Age Managers and Nipper Helpers are also patrolling members of the club – please do not put them or their families at risk by not staying away from the club should you or your child display any COVID symptoms or should you test positive on a RAT/PCR test.

I expect the situation will continue to evolve and change. We will do our best to make sensible decisions and to keep you informed of any changes to our operations. If you have any questions, please contact the club’s COVID officer, Dr Natalie Hood, or me.

Matt Mahon,
President

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE CLUB’S POSITION:

We would like to assure all members that the club is acting promptly and decisively to minimise the risk to members, guests and the public.  We will continue to follow the expert guidance of our COVID Officer, Dr Natalie Hood, Life Saving Victoria and the Victorian Government.

There is absolutely no suggestion that any of our members who have COVID or are isolating as household have done anything wrong. They have our support, and if the Club can help in any way, please reach out. However, they will do the wrong thing should they knowingly attend club activities when displaying symptoms or should they be required to be isolating.

Recent guidance from the Victorian Government has updated the required process for handling COVID cases and COVID contacts.  The main changes relate to the definition of a Household or Household-like contacts, isolation requirements and testing requirements. The new arrangements can be found at this link: https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/checklist

There are some important points we would like to stress on behalf of our club in addition to the government requirements: