When the call came through that a Covid-positive customer had entered his shop, Marco Ciavarella didn’t know where to turn.
Mr Ciavarella, owner of Marco’s IGA in Narre Warren North, said it was devastating news.
“I thought, ‘how the hell do I cope with it?’” he remembered.
“I didn’t know which way to go or turn, left or right, but our priority was to close the doors down.”
And close them he did, on Wednesday 21 July.
Staff who were there when the Covid case entered the store on Friday 16 July went into immediate quarantine and all staff were asked to get tested.
So far, none have tested positive.
Seventeen staff who were in store on that fateful Friday are currently seeing out the second half of their quarantine period.
Seventy-six customers were sent into quarantine too.
After the store closed, deep cleaners stepped in to sanitise the site.
Mr Ciavarella said the cleaning was conducted by a local company who were able to attend within mere hours to get the job done.
Meanwhile, he provided the Department of Health with every piece of information he could, from QR codes to transaction records and staff clock-on details.
And on Thursday 22 July, he got the news he was waiting for: the Department confirmed that he was able to reopen again.
It was a bit of a stretch to find staff, he admitted, with so many out of action in quarantine.
But nevertheless, the store is operating again, albeit on reduced hours.
Marco’s IGA is currently open from 7am to 7.30pm – and Mr Ciavarella can’t wait to see his customers step back through his doors.
He said he wants to assure his customers that his IGA store is “totally clean and Covid clear”.
“I want my customers to come back and feel safe,” he said.
