Some businesses in the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) say they’re calling for better communication from the province and Public Health regarding when they anticipate they’ll be allowed to reopen again.
On Nov. 24, when the province reported 37 new cases in one day, Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil and Public Health announced all restaurants and bars would be closing to in-person dining for two weeks.
The public gathering limit was reduced to five, and fitness centres, libraries, museums, casinos and similar facilities were all forced to temporarily close.
On Dec. 8, when the restrictions were slated to be lifted, chief medical officer of health Dr. Robert Strang announced they would be extended until Dec. 16.
Now, with that date fast approaching, restaurants and gym owners in the HRM say they’re still not sure if they’ll be allowed to reopen by the end of the week.
“It really drives me crazy,” says Devin Sherrington, the owner of 360fit. “I understand the government can’t guarantee where numbers will be, but I do think they need to have some idea on where the number level has to get.
“I’m sure by now they’ve made a decision, it’s just that they’re dragging it.”
Sherrington has once again been conducting fitness classes and lessons virtually over the past three weeks. He says he’s ready to open on Wednesday if the announcement goes that way, but either way, he’d like a bit more notice.
“If you’re going to give me notice that we can open on Wednesday, what are the rules around that?” Sherrington questions. “Are you changing the policies that are in place now? Do we need to change some of the guidelines? I don’t know. More notice for a business, it would just make our lives way, way easier.”
That’s a sentiment shared by Gordon Stewart with the Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia, who says restaurants especially need more than just a day’s notice before opening their doors again.
“You can’t just instantly open. You’ve got to order food supplies, you’ve got to arrange all your employees, your schedules,” says Stewart, “and that’s the problem. You can’t turn on a dime. You can’t pivot like everybody’s talking about.”
As for the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, they hope as the case numbers continue to remain in the single digits, the province can allow more allow more leeway to already hurting small businesses.
“We need a plan so that we understand when cases go down we can reopen, when cases go up we need to close,” said Patrick Sullivan with the chamber of commerce.
“Let’s get back to where we were in Halifax. We do have significantly reduced restrictions, but let’s also tell Nova Scotians, tell Haligonians, that it’s safe to go out as you wear your mask and wash your hands. We can deal with this.”
The province has confirmed there will be a COVID-19 briefing Wednesday at 3 p.m., as well as a technical briefing on the provincial vaccine rollout plan Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.