Kelowna is six days removed from Interior Health’s advisory of potential COVID-19 exposures in the downtown area.
Establishments on Bernard Avenue, near the waterfront of Okanagan Lake, are saying they’re experiencing a dip in business following the advisory.
“It’s been a slow week for sure,” said Dev Strilchuck, a Momo Sushi employee.
“I noticed it was way slower downtown, not just at our restaurant, but even talking to other waitresses, they say their restaurants are slow, too.”
According to the City of Kelowna, on July 4 – 5, the weekend before the advisory was released, Bernard Avenue saw a total of around 53,000 pedestrians and cyclists.
Fast forward to July 11-12, two days after the advisory, and pedestrian counts were down to around 35,000 people.
That equates to a drop of around 43 per cent.
It is important to note that the change in pedestrian numbers can have multiple factors such as weather and holidays.
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Dave Willoughby, one of the owners of Doc Willoughby’s Pub, says he thinks it’s unfair the way some of the media has covered the advisory.
“Certainly we’ve noticed a big drop in people coming downtown. I think it’s in part because it started being referred to as an outbreak,” said Willoughby.
Willoughby says the precautions that have been put in place to mitigate COVID-19 should be enough to ease people’s minds.
“It’s a little bit frustrating. We have a bit of wind in our sails and all of a sudden there’s an outbreak in Kelowna and it’s all over the media,” Willoughby told Global News on Thursday.
“People are talking about it and it does discourage people from feeling safe.”
Global News asked people who were downtown today if they felt safe.
“I obviously think getting COVID-19 is a worry, but we’re healthy and fit,” said Sharon Wild, a visitor from Fiji.
“We’re trying to keep away from people. I feel safe.”
Another visitor from Edmonton said it is something he’s thinking about but won’t stop him and his family from enjoying their vacation.
“We’re definitely aware of it. We have wipes in our vehicle and we’re just more cautious,” said Peter Mickkelsen.
“We are aware of it, but it’s not affecting our decisions.”
As of today, there are seven new COVID-19 cases in the interior health region.
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