Businesses and the wider Warrumbungle Shire community are still counting the cost of the COVID-19 lockdown.

At the time of print, Warrumbungle Shire communities were enjoying end of the lockdown, with stay-at-home restrictions lifted at midnight on Friday, 10 September.

This was welcome news to local hairdressers, beauty salons and gift stores, who were forced to close their doors for four weeks.

However, there were firm warnings from authorities that another snap lockdown could happen if cases began to spike once again.

Zoe Holcombe, Coonabarabran Golf Club secretary, said there was no telling yet just how bad the club had been affected, but admitted it didn’t look good.

“We were having a fantastic year right up until two months before the lockdown,” she said.

“We were actually looking like making a good profit for the first time in probably 10 years.

“But until we do the financials in a few weeks time, there’s no telling just how bad we’ve been affected.

“It’s been really hard on everyone, but especially for hospitality businesses it really has hurt a lot of people.

“All our staff have been affected and the small government supplement we’ve been getting really hasn’t been much.”

Ms Holcombe said with lockdown lifted she hoped the community would get out and continue to support local businesses.

However, she urged patrons to ensure they followed the restrictions.

“At the Coonabarabran Golf Club, we’re doing everything we can, in fact we’re going above and beyond,” she said.

“We have a check list of all the frequently touched areas and they get cleaned every hour.

“Our staff and all the board members should be fully vaccinated by October.

“Get down and support yourclub,butstayvigilantand do all the right things.”