Warrnambool cafe owner hopes Victorian Premier will relax restrictions

Prime Minister Scott Morrison's first step will allow cafes and restaurants to allow people to dine in but Bohemia owner Steve Hickman doesn't believe Victorian Premier Dan Andrews will follow suit.

"The Victorian government is taking a much harder line than the federal government, which we don't appreciate," he said.

In addition to that Mr Hickman will have to weigh up whether proposed restrictions would make it worth his while to open up the cafe and allow people to dine in.

"If we are only allowed to have 10 people sitting down we will probably stick with takeaways," he said.

Mr Hickman said if the restrictions were eased, he would need a few days to put things in place before he could once again invited people to dine in.

Member for South West Coast Roma Britnell has called for the state government to follow the lead of other states and ease some of its coronavirus restrictions.

She said there was no medical evidence to suggest that maintaining strict measures was necessary.

Ms Britnell said while no one wanted to see a second wave of outbreaks, there was evidence that suggested clusters of the virus could be managed and restrictions eased.

"Other states have proven already that they can manage cluster outbreaks, which will be highly likely given we don't have a vaccine," she said.

Seanchai owner Josh O'Dowd said he hoped to be able to re-open soon.

But he said he was happy to err on the side of caution because he doesn't want to put measures in place to once again open the doors and be told shortly after he has to close again.

He said the atmosphere would likely be very different, with strict social distancing restrictions.

Mr O'Dowd said it would probably take two weeks to have the hotel ready to re-open once an announcement is made.

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