There wouldn't be many Australians alive who would have experienced anything like Monday this week.
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To see some of the great hospitality businesses of our community shutting their doors as increasingly stringent social distancing requirements was astonishing for some and heartbreaking for many.
Coronavirus: All the latest updates on COVID-19 for Tasmania
But on the advice, it appears there is no other option.
If we as a country and an island state are to come out the other side as healthy as we possibly can, then some tough decisions and actions needed to be made.
Unfortunately, there are some dire economic consequences for those who deal face to face with people in our hospitality and service sectors.
These tough actions have been taken for a reason and that is to slow the spread of the virus.
We should all be very mindful of our own individual actions in business, work and private lives to help minimise the risk of spread.
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We all need to do our bit.
The clear responsibility now is on the rest of us to make sure that their action in closing business doors and reducing services is not wasted.
The great cost to these business operators, who are possibly seeing the work of a lifetime slowly ebb away, will be a waste unless the rest of us keep our distance and pull our collective heads in.
It is also important to remember that many sectors in the business community are working as usual, especially in essential services as well as agriculture, forestry, construction and civil construction.
The only way they will be impacted is by their workforces contracting the virus - we must, as far as is humanly possible, keep the spread of the virus away from them.
This is why it is so important to follow the advice of government and the medical experts - keep your distance, practice good hygiene to slow the spread and prevent the consequences becoming even more widespread through the community and workforce.
We as a community and economy rely upon those who are still working to keep us all in essential supplies, health services and to keep the broader economy ticking forward as much as possible.
The consequences of this will be with us for some time, but we can soften the blow and flatten the curve to help us to emerge strongly out the other side.
- Neil Grose, Launceston Chamber of Commerce chief executive
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