‘Surprised and disappointed’: Okanagan eateries call for regional approach to new restrictions

Owners of Okanagan eateries expressed shock and disappointment as the B.C. government announced the sudden closure of in-person dining until April 19 as a ‘circuit breaker’ to stop the increase in COVID-19 transmission.

There are now growing calls for a regional approach to new restrictions, as some areas of B.C. are faring better than others.

“Based on the case count that we have in Interior Health, you see that it’s very low compared to Metro Vancouver,” said Mike Coghill, owner of Neighbourhood Brewing in Penticton, B.C.

“I don’t think the same restrictions should be put in place that has such a low count.”

As of Monday, there were 447 active cases of COVID-19 in the Interior Health region, compared to 3,452 in Fraser Health, and 2,283 in Vancouver Coastal Health.

“I think a deeper dive into the restaurants themselves is needed as I believe, and the restaurants I’ve spoken to around the valley, have not had many or if any confirmed cases of COVID,” said Randy Foster, owner of The Nest.

“We were shocked and disappointed. The notice came very sudden,” Foster said of the abrupt announcement. The industry did not receive advanced notice.

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The Penticton and Wine Country Chamber of Commerce issued a scathing press release on Monday, stating it was “dismayed” by the abrupt announcement.

“The Penticton Chamber urges the province to consider regional restrictions rather than penalizing the entire province,” it wrote.

“This latest announcement could mean the end for some of our businesses who are struggling to stay afloat.”

In response to a question about why the province did not target specific high-risk communities with regional restrictions, B.C.’s health minister Adrian Dix defended the province-wide approach.

“While the rates in Interior Health and Vancouver Island aren’t as high as they are in Metro Vancouver, they’re going up to, you want to make these choices and these decisions for a circuit breaker before they start to go up more,” Dix said.

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Meanwhile, Okanagan restaurants, bars and pubs are pivoting to patio service, takeout and delivery options only.

“It means pivoting, trying to find new ways to bring in revenue, our goal is always to take care of our staff and not have to lay anyone off and that’s where we are at right now,” Coghill said.

At The Nest, Foster said he was forced to layoff staff, cancel food and alcohol orders, and scramble to launch an online ordering platform. He plans to personally deliver orders to customer’s doors.

“We’ve been really building here at The Nest over the last year. We’ve developed a bunch of niches in our restaurant and a really successful program where we haven’t had to rely on a takeout or delivery program so with the short notice that we were given, we really feel that this is going to impact our business for potentially more than the three weeks,” Foster said.

“The hospitality industry has been very hard-hit and we need to do as much as we can to keep these people encouraged for the upcoming season, because this is a very important year for us to grow, not only for the Nest but for the Okanagan.”

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The Canadian Federation of Independent Business said embattled businesses need a financial lifeline to survive the latest round of restrictions.

“That means support measures like tax deferment, tax forgiveness, or even expanding grant programs that are in existence already from the B.C. government,” said spokesperson Muriel Protzer.

B.C. premier John Horgan said support is coming, specifically for the hospitality sector to help it “bridge” the next three weeks, but was short on specifics.

“I don’t want to get into specifics about the next three weeks other than to say the minister is on it, the government is on it, and we will have more to say once the programs have been developed,” Horgan said.