The masks may be coming down at last, and the easing of social distancing regulations are giving us a sense that “normality” is returning but there is also concern for the Australian economy and employment following the ending of the $90billion Job Keeper wage subsidy scheme that supported up to one million Australian workers out of work during COVID crisis of the past year.

One of the country’s leading economists, Stephen Koukoulas, the MD of Market Economics, told Neos Kosmos that while the effects of lifting of Job Keeper would be a problem over the near future, some sectors of the economy had continued to do well over the past year.

He noted that figures projected by the Treasury suggested that up to 200,000 who relied on Job Keeper could go into unemployment which would push unemployment figures above seven percent.

“But the situation is better than what we thought it would be. Confidence may improve over the six or seven months,” he said.

He said some industries had performed strongly noting that construction has been very robust. Minining had continued to do very well, and Australia had benefitted from the strength of China’s economy.

“China is still buying our mining products even if they are boycotting our beef and wine,” Mr Koukoulas said.

He also noted that the property market had remained “remarkably strong” and that consumer spending has been strong locally with the domestic economy performing well. The low interest rate had helped to keep property attractive as an investment.

However, he said the university sector with its lack of foreign students was suffering while the arts and hospitality sectors were fairly weak even with the opening of venues, including the big sports stadiums and the drive to encourage local tourism.

The roll out of the COVID-19 vaccines was slow but it offered the best hope of ending lockdowns.

“The Queensland outbreak may have been averted had we rolled out the vaccine earlier and faster and perhaps the lockdown would have been unnecessary,” said Mr Koukoulas.

“It is unclear now if we are gaining momentum. The lockdowns did hurt the economy but it is also good to see that the pandemic had been successfully contained. We are part of the way through it, other countries are in a far worse situation.”

READ MORE: Caution is the name of the game in post Covid-19 world, says economist

Cherrie Miriklis-Pavlou, the founder and creative director of Flowers Vasette, told Neos Kosmos that her business was back in full swing with many people catching up on events. She said that the ending of Job Keeper would have no effect on her business and that she was looking to put on more staff to keep up with demand.

“March has been a busy month, particularly after the five-day lockdown In February that included St Valentine’s Day one our biggest days of the year,” said Ms Miriklis-Pavlou.

When Covid-19 forced the Melbourne’s lockdown last year, Ms Miriklis-Pavlous’ the flower and event management side of her business disappeared overnight and for a period Flowers Vasette sold classy vegetable packs online.

“We had a good online presence (before COVID-19) but now we are looking at how to do things even better as the future is online.

“COVID gave us no choice as online became the only vehicle to do business. We have been busy online but with the retail opening up, people like to come into our shop to be near nature and be surrounded by flowers.

“Right now, people do want to go out and socialise. There is a pent-up energy. I have even noticed on social media platforms that people are holding belated Christmas parties to catch up with loved ones.”

“Retail stores are reinventing themselves to provide an experience for customers to come in. People are cashed up to buy and upgrade their homes. Who knows how it will turn out?”

READ MORE: COVID-19 forces shift from flower power to classy veggie hampers

Martha Tsamis was another businessperson who had to adapt fast when the COVID-19 shut down her two night clubs, Inflation and Chasers. Her answer was to shift her operations to meet the rapidly growing demand for hand-sanitiser stations and medical protective gear.

Under easing restrictions night club and live music venues are doing business again, albeit at 75percent capacity with social distancing of two square-metre per person in place – a rule applied to hospitality venues. Restrictions of 50 people on a dance floor are gone but the requirements are still in place for venues to keep visitor records of visits and enforce sanitation procedures.

“We have partially opened the venue but according to the new guidelines we are at about 50 percent not 75percent. It is still difficult but it’s better than it was,” Ms Tsamis told Neos Kosmos.

“Inflation is licensed for 876 but we are currently getting about 270 a night. The venue has a roof terrace that can accommodate 100 people which is good.

“We get about 390 people at Chasers (it has a licence for 900 patrons).

She said demand was high, with patrons queueing up for hours in the hope of being allowed into the venues.

“People understand that while they have the freedom to socialise, they are also mindful of following the rules – they know that if the disobey them they are out and will have to join the long queues to get into other venues,” said Ms Tsamis.

“We are just hoping that we do not have another outbreak so that the rules can be relaxed further to allow more people in because it is not viable for us as things are now.”

“The worry is that winter is coming and as we have seen in other countries the winter months are bad for COVID. We cannot afford another lockdown.

She said the past year had taught her not to take things for granted. She said the diversification into supplying medical sanitation products had been a fluke that had helped to add to income and helped her and her staff and family to stay viable.

“It is always good to wear a few hats and diversify. One of the big lessons has also been to promote the local economy. The products we sell are made here in Australia and this is a good thing to push for the future for all of us.

“We used to spend $52 billion on overseas travel and if we can spend that here it will be good. The COVID experience has forced a re-think on many things on how the office works, operating online, keeping up our cash reserves and keeping up hygiene and sanitizing practices.

“I had very few people on Job Keeper it helped but we are on our own now, we were told for a long time that it would be coming to an end, but we now need to stand on our own two feet,” said Ms Tsamis.

READ MORE: Tsamis family’s all-Aussie hand-sanitisers taken up across the nation