Ryan Squire, the owner of the Lighthouse Japanese Restaurant in Lethbridge is happy to be welcoming the lunch crowd once again as dine-in services resumed on Monday as part of Step 1 of Alberta’s recently announced relaunch strategy.
“I’m excited that we can serve our guests again, it’s been a lot of takeout lately, which we’re grateful for obviously, but we miss having the interactions with our guests,” Squire said.
While dining-in is being permitted again, there are still many restrictions in place for bars and restaurants.
A maximum of six people are allowed at a table together, and they all must be from the same home. For those who live alone, two close contacts may dine together.
Establishments will also need to collect contact info from one person from each dining party.
Tables must be kept two metres apart. Additionally, liquor service has to stop at 10 p.m. and in-person dining has to finish by 11 p.m.
Squire says diners seem to share his excitement as well.
“We’ve been getting reservations, which we always recommend people do during these COVID times, it’s always good to make sure you have a spot,” he explained.
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“Reservations are starting to come in, people seem excited to be able to come out and dine with their families again,” Squire added.
He said restaurant staff hope patrons will be able to come out and dine with their friends once more in the near future.
Other businesses allowed to reopen include gyms, but only partially.
One-on-one training and limited team sport training for children and youth, such as as dance and gymnastic classes are being allowed starting Monday as well.
“We’re openish, I mean we can’t have our doors wide open to the public — (we can) sell memberships and all that fun stuff we normally do around this time of year,” said Justin Tavernini, the owner of the O2 Training Centre.
“You know, given it being a new year and everyone likes to get into a gym right now.”
Tavernini says they are happy to be welcoming back their clients, but he wishes gyms could open further.
“But when you’re seeing other industries fully open their doors, it’s a little frustrating to know that 400, 500 people can go into Costco, but I can’t have 10 people in my facility at once,” he said.
Tavernini said he and many other gym owners he’s spoken to feel as though they’re “getting picked on.”
He says his gym also as an advantage compared to other small- to medium-sized fitness centres since its businesses model does not solely rely on gym members, and personal training makes up a considerable amount of the services they provide.
Tavernini also says they’ve had to cut down training sessions to 30 minutes from an hour in order to accommodate more people, with many of their clients now looking to get back inside the facility.
In addition to personal training, the gym offers martial arts, kick-boxing and jiu jitsu for children and youth.
“We’re fortunate enough we also run kids programs, which is super exciting, parents want their kids to get involved in activities,” Tavernini said.
This initial step will last at least three weeks, with hospitalizations needing to stay below 450 before the Alberta government will explore moving into Step 2 of the relaunch plan.
-With files from Global News’ Heide Pearson
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