The City of Mandurah is still crunching the numbers to assess the cost of cancelling last weekend's Crab Fest.
The iconic tradition joined a growing list of cancelled events on Friday, including the upcoming Fairbridge Festival, as part of the fallout of the continued spread of coronavirus.
The operational budget for this year's Crab Fest was close to $700,000.
The City of Mandurah had allocated a total of $420,000 towards the event, with the remaining $271,000 funded by a combination of sponsorship and stallholder fees.
"The full financial cost to the City, and the economic impact on Mandurah broadly, as a result of the cancellation of Crab Fest has not yet been fully determined," a City of Mandurah spokeswoman said.
The entire Peel region has been feeling the pinch of COVID-19, with small businesses struggling to make ends meet, shifts for casual workers being cut and employees losing their jobs.
However, the economic burden has obviously not been limited to Mandurah.
The full financial cost to the City, and the economic impact on Mandurah broadly, as a result of the cancellation of Crab Fest has not yet been fully determined.
- City of Mandurah spokeswoman
The affect of coronavirus has been felt right across the entire country with tight restrictions and policies implemented as the federal government tries to curb the spread of the disease.
On Wednesday morning, Western Australia had 35 confirmed cases of coronavirus while Australia had 454 - a nationwide increase of almost four times the tally just seven days prior.
Overseas travellers have been urged to return home after the Commonwealth updated its travel advisory for the entire world to level four - an unprecedented move.
WA premier Mark McGowan has also insisted people reconsider non-essential interstate travel.
Outdoor gatherings of 500 people or more have been banned since Monday, and all non-essential indoor gatherings of 100 people or more were banned yesterday and made effective immediately.
Aged care facilities have also been subject to restrictions, with visits limited to short, two-person visits once a day, per resident, to protect people from coronavirus.
A total of 20,000 student nurses are expected to be mobilised into the workforce around the country while hand shaking and hugging is now off limits as measures to practice social distancing are encouraged.
Read more on coronavirus:
Mandurah mayor Rhys Williams described it as a "very difficult decision" to cancel Crab Fest last-minute.
"We were analysing the situation on an day-to-day basis and the advice right up until Thursday evening was that it was appropriate that Crab Fest go ahead, as with all other events," he said.
"Of course, what we saw on Friday was the mass cancellation of public events and, having consulted closely first thing Friday morning with the Chief Health Officer and Health Minister, we got the best advice and we acted accordingly.
"I know that it impacted on the community but the health and wellbeing of the community is our first priority."
I know that [the cancellation of Crab Fest] impacted on the community but the health and wellbeing of the community is our first priority.
- Mandurah mayor Rhys Williams
Mr Williams said the impact of coronavirus at a local government level would be monitored closely.
"The situation changes by the hour and that's what it is going to be like for a while - decision makers have to be able to respond," he said.
"We're making the decisions based on the best advice."
The City of Mandurah will now review all community services currently being provided and any upcoming events to ensure they meet all guidelines imposed by state and federal governments.
"We activated our pandemic response team a couple of weeks ago and we're working right across the business with that," Mr Williams said.
"That includes a review of all events and other facilities, but we will be talking to the community more about that in the days and weeks ahead."
