Gene Seabrook, who co-owns Deep Blue Hotel and Hot Springs and Warrnambool Mid City Motel with wife Rebecca, said there had been 500 nights of accommodation cancelled as a result of the five-day lockdown.

"It just flattens you," he said. "You can't think or process it."

Mr Seabrook found one silver lining in the school holidays having gone ahead without restrictions, but he now worried about the affect on reducing hours and shifts for the 115 staff.

He said the business had up to $130,000 in unavoidable expenses and would lose revenue from room and function cancellations and its commercial laundry, restaurant and hot spring facilities not operating.

"It's not sustainable," Mr Seabrook said. "We will be tapping into the overdraft, you don't have time to go and apply for a loan."

The state government announced it would pay its Licensed Venue Hospitality Fund of $3000 and Business Costs Assistance Program of $2000 automatically to traders who received it earlier this year before the five-day lockdown ends.

Mr Seabrook was among 86,000 businesses statewide to receive the payment earlier in the year but said it was not enough.

"It's less than one per cent than what our lost expenses and lost revenue are," he said. "It might be good for a smaller business but for a business with bigger turnover it's not proportional."

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