Parramatta salon owner Lizzie Liros is feeling the pinch of the Omicron outbreak worse than last year's Delta lockdown.
The recovery of Greater Sydney's second CBD from last year's lockdown was swift, but ultimately short-lived.
Google mobility data shows movement around Parramatta's CBD has fallen by 39 per cent compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Ms Liros said the Omicron outbreak had turned Parramatta's CBD into a "ghost town".
"I've never experienced fear trying to pick up a phone," she said.
"But each time I pick up the phone, at least seven out of those 10 phone calls are cancellations or they're re-booking because either they're a close contact, they're isolating, or they've had COVID, or a wedding has been cancelled.
"I believe this is worse than lockdown, because we're not getting any government assistance, no JobKeeper, no grants."
"It is like a ghost town … it's scary."
A Google mobility report — which tracks mobile phone users who have turned on location history — revealed the impact of the latest outbreak.
Foot traffic in Parramatta is now as low as when Sydney emerged from three months of lockdown in mid-October last year.
People attending retail and recreation settings in Parramatta fell by 39 per cent compared to pre-pandemic levels in early 2020.
This was about a third lower than it was last January, when the vaccine rollout hadn't begun and Sydney was still living in various levels of social distancing restrictions due to the Avalon COVID-19 outbreak.
It's a far cry from the summer "boom time" touted by NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet as a reward for the state reaching its 80 per cent vaccination milestone for people aged 16 and up.
Similar falls were seen in Sydney's CBD, with retail and recreation falling to 56 per cent below pre-pandemic levels — about 10 per cent lower than the same time last year.
In Campbelltown, in Sydney's south-west, there were signs of recovery.
Retail movement was at January 2020 levels, with a surge of 32 per cent above pre-pandemic levels just before Christmas.
Geo-locational data provided by another tech giant had corroborated Google's findings about Parramatta.
Rohan Byrne, a researcher from the University of Melbourne's COVID-19 scientific response team, analysed Facebook data and found movement in Parramatta was the lowest level it's been since June 28.
He said mobility dropped at Christmas as expected but had not bounced back.
"But now there's Omicron, and we're back in it again. It's the same story in both Melbourne and Sydney. There has been a very dramatic drop in mobility," he said.
"People are choosing not to do the systematic, long distance [movement] and they're keeping their networks very close. That's actually a good thing."
He said Australians who had endured lockdowns had become used to two parallel modes of life for work and socialising.
"That means it allows the recoveries to be much quicker, but the other consequence of that is the level you're jumping back to is not normal," he said.
'Trinity of misfortune'
Although there are few restrictions impacting NSW, the Google mobility data indicated people were choosing to stay at home.
The reports found a 17 per cent increase in home or residential settings compared to pre-pandemic levels, the highest its been since before Greater Sydney emerged out of lockdown in mid-October.
Business Western Sydney's David Borger said working from home arrangements have had a big impact on the Parramatta CBD.
"January's always a bit slow in Parramatta because people tend to be on holidays, it comes back after Australia Day, but it seems much deader than previous years," he said.
"The office workers haven't been here, so you've had this kind of triple whammy of less office workers, disruption because of light rail [construction] and less car parking space.
"That sort of trinity of misfortune means that we've lost the lifeblood in the city.
"It seems like the basin has been drained of human activity and these movement sensitive uses, like retail that require footfall traffic, are really struggling and have been for a long time."
Mr Borger said strategies designed to attract people back to Sydney's CBD needed to be rolled out in Parramatta too.
"I think the government's really got to understand we have two major commercial office centres in the city ones in the east, and one in Western Sydney," he said.
"When there's problems, they both need some help — we're still seeing that funding inequity continue."
