The coronavirus has caused more job losses in Lismore with the Lismore City Council cutting 73 jobs yesterday.

The exact details are yet to be released but the majority of those jobs lost are from GSAC (Goonellabah Sports and Aquatic Centre) where the building was forced to shutdown under Federal restrictions on March 25 for Leisure and Recreation which included indoor gyms and pools.

The job losses extends to the Lismore Memorial Baths on Molesworth Street which have closed early due to the coronavirus.

General Manager Shelley Oldham told the Lismore App that "these are very challenging times and we had to move quickly".

Mayor Isaac Smith this morning said "we feel sorry for everyone who is losing their jobs right now, this is a brutal decision that we, as a council have to make".

Most of the job losses are part-time and casual positions but it does involve some full-time positions.

Matt George from Summit Fitness in Goonellabah said that he has had to let go 40 staff since the 25th and is now looking to empty his pool save money on running costs.

Summit have been uploading video classes so members can do on-line classes. So far Summit has seen 72 on-line subscriptions at this stage, there is some free content for people to workout to as well (https://www.facebook.com/Summit-Sport-and-Fitness-Centre-272924377451/).

The Lismore City Council will be meeting regularly in the next two weeks to plan a coronavirus response. Like any business council need to review reducing revenue and then determine what measures need to be implemented to keep council functioning.

Mayor Smith added that "to my knowledge, local councils have had no financial support from Federal or State Government to this point".

This raises the question of rate relief because without some additional Federal or State funding local council will not have room in their current budgets to make the decision alone.