Wangaratta's Cr Ken Clarke compares coronavirus hardship to a World War

But he did go out to attend Wangaratta Council's meeting on Tuesday night.

The meeting had been delayed a week to enable councillors to meet virtually rather than in person, after new Victorian laws came in effect on Friday.

But the council decided to meet at the Wangaratta Council chambers anyway, without a public gallery.

Mayor Dean Rees said the meeting was important "to show that we are still working hard for our community".

"We are practicing social distancing here in our chamber, but the best way to keep our meeting going we felt was to be all here and be available to make sure the important issues get dealt with," he said.

Cr Clarke said despite living through a World War, where unemployment was 12 per cent and people were begging for food scraps, he was worried about this pandemic.

"I am personally scared stiff about COVID-19 and have been to the supermarket twice in the last six weeks," he said.

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He said he was concerned by how many shops had been forced to close in Wangaratta and it was frightening to hear Prime Minister Scott Morrison say 1 million Australians would lose their jobs during the pandemic, so the budget should be amended to reflect the expected budget impact.

But Cr Harvery Benton said while he was sympathetic to struggling businesses, councillors could only deal with the numbers in front of them.

He said "there wasn't any sympathy towards" the livestock and wool industries during their difficulties in the 1980s and 90s.

Councillors passed Wangaratta's 2020-21 budget and council plan, which includes a plan to apply for a higher rate rise than the cap in 2022-23, but acknowledged some part may have to change when the impact of coronavirus becomes more clear.

"We had been working on this budget for a while, but as soon as the COVID hit, that was our focus - on ensuring we could help those in financial need," Cr Rees said.

The council has offered flexibility in paying their rates, asking those on need to get in contact.

Corporate Services director Sarah Brindley said the new pool for the city and upgrade of the railway precinct were among the positive projects.

"We anticipate that some of the major initiatives contained within this draft council plan will support the municipality in its recovery from the health, economic and social impacts of COVID-19," she said.

Cr Ashlee Fitzpatrick encouraged people struggling for connection to pick up the phone and call Gateway Health for a chat as part of the "hello project".

"Thank you to all of our essential workers; to our businesses; to our primary, secondary and tertiary education students; parents and carers; everyone staying at home," she said. "I acknowledge times are tough and we are certainly missing catching up with our loved ones."

The draft budget was released to allow comments from the public before it will be passed at a later meeting.