The back rooms of Julie Newton's saddlery store are always bustling with staff packaging boots, belts and work wear to send to the Australian outback, but on the main floor it's much quieter.
"The online store is what kept us going in January," she said.
"We'd be lost without it."
Though usually quiet during the hot Top End wet season before the influx of tourists and grey nomads descend in May, the streets of Katherine are desolate with people limiting their movements to counter the spread of Omicron.
In the face of rising case numbers, hospitalisations and deaths due to COVID, residents are voluntarily staying at home, and businesses are feeling the pinch.
"Browsing has cut back … but we punch above our weight when we look at the percentage of online sales compared to our in-store sales," Ms Newton said.
It's a similar scene a couple of streets away, where Warren de With, the owner of Rod and Rifle Tackle World said sales figures for the month of January were down 18 per cent compared to last year.
He said the hesitation of residents to get out and about is evident.
"In 2021 we were probably the safest place in Australia, whereas now, COVID has caught up with us so people are more reluctant to shop around," he said.
He said the downturn is particularly stark in contrast to last year.
"[last year] was an exceptional year because of the [high number of] people that were staying inside the Territory. The tourism vouchers were really good for Katherine. It got a lot of people to come down here and shop," he said.
"But that didn't happen this year, and even if we did have it, it would be interesting to see if people were still willing to travel because a lot of people are staying at home."
Katherine's Chamber of Commerce Manager Colin Abbott said some businesses are reporting that it's the "worst" it has been in five years.
"Certainly, over the past couple of months it's been very, very quiet for most businesses."
Navigating omicron
Not only has Omicron's presence seen many people self-impose restrictions, small businesses and services are facing significant pressure from a constrained workforce due to the sheer number of people catching the virus or becoming close contacts.
Lisa Mumbin, chair of the Jawoyn Association said the challenges have been far reaching and "frightening", with much-needed services the organisation provides impacted. Access to food vouchers, transport, aged care support and funerals have all been affected.
"We've been challenged in our office with staff in all of our programs [who] just haven't been able to attend work," Ms Mumbin said.
"It's put a lot of pressure on us as an organisation to deliver serivices out in the communities.
"We are struggling. It's impacting us big time, but we're taking it one day at a time."
Pip Gordon, coordinator of the Banatjarl Strongbala Wimun Grup, which empowers Indigenous women in remote communities, said she hasn't been able to run a group since the start of the year.
"We've had staff literally rolling from isolation to isolation because they are in close contact, because they live in a full house and it takes one person.
"We had one support person back on Monday and then within two hours she had to go back home again for another seven."
Positivity for the future
In a town heavily reliant on tourism, businesses cling to the hope that interstate travellers and grey nomads will arrive in droves over the next couple of months, while international travel still tricky.
"Because people were talking about not wanting to come up to the Territory if they had to come up and go back down the Stuart Highway, whereas now they'll be able to do the loop."
