Despite the pain of bushfires and then restrictions on hospitality due to COVID-19, Jingellic's publican is glad the border has been closed.
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Peter Wilson, manager of the town's pub, believes just locking down Melbourne would not have gone far enough to contain the virus outbreak.
"For a couple of weekends, we had a camping area full of Melbournites before they started to shut everything down," he said.
"Not many of the caravans that came through here went back to Victoria.
"To shut the border - that's got to help.
"What the government don't get is they think they've explained things beautifully, but 90 per cent of people are totally confused about what they can and can't do."
Both Mr Wilson and employee Elena Bettio drive across the Murray River to come to work, and have successfully applied for new cross-border permits.
"There are issues, the same as for people in Albury-Wodonga - there's people just on the other side of Walwa who cant get across if they're outside that two-kilometre [zone]," he said.
About 20 contractors who are working and staying on the Victorian side who were spending more than $5000 a week at the pub have been told they can't cross.
"It is a big hit ... but we've still got the Army and the police," Mr Wilson said.
"They have been booking out accommodation and buying food, which is great.
"All those guys that have been down there [at the checkpoint] deserve a big pat on the back; they've made it as easy as they possibly can."
Ms Bettio said the restrictions on their pub meant locals couldn't socialise like they once did.
"A lot of people have been through horrendous bushfires, and this was their go-to place," she said.
"You've got farmers who are out there fencing all day by themselves and they've got nowhere to go to catch up."
Mr Wilson said he was concerned about people in the region, after being hit with this, after fires.
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"We've gone from the one [enemy] you can see to the one you can't," he said.
"I worry about a lot of people up here. There's a lot of people who are doing it hard.
"Business-wise, we're concerned ... I think things are going to get a lot tougher for this pub. The penny will drop and they'll have to tighten it right up again.
"It is what it is, and you've just got to get through it."
