Local businesses forced to stay closed over the weekend say they want the Manitoba Government to tell them why.
On Saturday, Manitoba public health loosened restrictions in most of the province, from level red COVID-19 lock down measures implemented in November.
Retail businesses opened with non-essential items once again allowed to be sold in person. Two designated people are allowed to visit another household and hair salons and barber shops are now allowed to open their doors to customers.
But others were left out.
“I think it’s difficult to understand why when we’re in very similar industries,” Jordyn Wiebe, owner of The Sugar Freak, said.
Other businesses in the personal service industry also asking why they weren’t included, especially on the heels of Saturday’s retail reopening which saw crowds gather indoors at CF Polo Park mall.
“It’s frustrating,” Rich Handford, co-chair of the Manitoba Body Art Association, said.
“It’s hard to be at the mercy of the success of these reopening plans as an industry with very low risks of transmission because of our infection control protocols and the similar similar training and protocols in place to medical and dental procedures.”
Both groups told Global News they have reached out to the Province for more information.
“I feel like they’re still just so vague, they’re just very, they’re not giving us a lot to work with,” Wiebe said.
“We have very high cleaning standards, far before the pandemic happened. They’re going to continue on now and be even more so.”
“Our Association has gathered data from seven representative businesses to clearly show the safe track record within our industry,” Handford said. “We’ve been submitting proposals to the province since June of last year.”
“The impacts of these health orders are devastating to small businesses.
“And I think, at a certain point, we need to learn to live with this virus and Manitoba Body Art businesses like all other businesses deserve the right to provide for our families, while mitigating the risks of transmission in our community and our businesses.”
Manitoba Public Health addressed those questions on Friday.
“It really comes down to we just can’t open up everything at once,” Manitoba’s Acting Deputy Chief Provincial Public Health Officer, Dr. Jazz Atwal said.
“We understand that there’s disappointment out there. We have to carefully select the things that we do want to open up, that society wants open up as well. So we’re looking at barber shops and hair salons, we’re just thinking about hair cuts on your scalp.”
“We’re not looking at waxing, we aren’t looking at nails, that involves more interactions,” he said.
“Again this virus comes down to those interactions. The more people are out, the more that you do with others, the greater the risk. That one moment you’re doing something with others may not be that risky, but we have 1.4 million people in Manitoba, multiply that by 1.4 million.”
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