ACT businesses cautiously optimistic on lifted mask mandate

Mandatory indoor mask requirements were scrapped from 6pm on February 25 in most environments within the ACT, excluding public transport, taxis or rideshare services, hospitals, aged care facilities and Canberra Airport.

The co-owner of Gang Gang Cafe and Bar in Downer, Max Conway, said his business had followed the ACT Health rule changes, but about 50 per cent of staff and customers were still wearing masks.

"It's taken until today where I've stopped wearing my mask, but some staff are still wearing it and it's sort of just up to the staff at this point," Mr Conway said.

"There's a general sense people are becoming a bit more relaxed and the business is starting to pick up a little bit over the last couple of weeks. I've put that down to people feeling a little less shy about it."

"Some of us were pretty excited to not have to wear them, [while] others were pretty careful and didn't want to expose themselves more than they needed to. But everyone that works here is triple-vaxxed, and I think once we got to that point that made most of our staff pretty chill."

Rose Ward, manager of the Griffith bookstore Paperchain, is a bit more cautious. She says all her staff are still wearing masks to make customers feel safer when they are browsing.

"We haven't mandated that our staff have to [wear a mask], so if they don't want to we're not going to make them - but everybody has chosen to so far," Ms Ward said.

"People out there obviously will still be a little apprehensive knowing that the virus is circulating probably more than it has been in Canberra before.

"One person asked why we were still wearing masks, and I said we want to keep as many people as comfortable as possible in our business, and he said that was a very reasonable point."

Another organisation taking the more cautious approach was the ANU, which continues to require that masks be worn indoors for the foreseeable future. It has kept the same COVID-safe guidelines the university put in place from the beginning of semester one.

Earlier last week, 12 per cent of student residents at the university tested positive via a rapid antigen test, or about 660 students.

"Masks reduce the risk of exposure and the chance of needing to quarantine, and they also give our community additional confidence as [people] go about their business on campus," an ANU spokesperson said.

Some organisations were fully embracing the freedom from mask. Alanah Smith, operations supervisor of the Hellenic Club in Civic, said it was a relief to no longer enforce mask rules and be "the fun police".

"It's a lot easier, from the hospitality side of it we're rushing around a lot and it actually gets pretty hot. But there are some staff that have chosen to still wear masks which is fine - but it's good for the staff who didn't like wearing them," Ms Smith said.

"I haven't heard any complaints or any sort of comments from customers, which is good. It's hard enough as it is to run things when it gets busy, it's another thing having to ask everyone to put a mask on."

Canberra Business Chamber chief executive Graham Catt said this attitude was common among Canberra businesses.

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"When we first saw mask mandates introduced in the territory, we were hearing from hospitality venues that it sometimes translated to a 30 per cent downturn in trade. I think we've adjusted as a community, but it's pretty clear that does have an impact on people," Mr Catt said.

"Generally people we've spoken to have welcomed that change, and I think more importantly the consumer and the community are taking their cues from the health advice, and about what the risk actually is."

The health advice, according to Mr Catt, played a significant role in influencing the community's risk assessment, and when mask mandates were in place it often sent a message that it was unsafe to go out.

"When it's a directive, as opposed to an encouragement, then it really is sending signals to the community that there's risk to actually purchasing and consuming, which has translated into businesses," he said.

"I think the easing of that restriction, or the move from it being a directive, is an important part of sending a different message to the community."

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