COVID restrictions have been hard on many businesses across the province, including restaurants.
Now many restaurant owners are expressing concerns over the impact of a potential third wave, and ultimately another lockdown.
Lately, Canadian health officials have been discussing the possibility of a third wave brought on by more infectious variants of the virus. Manitoba’s chief public health officer Dr Brent Roussin says caution is needed, with case numbers slowly trending upwards and the variants of concern becoming more of an issue.
Despite growing concerns, one local restaurant owner, Corrina Abrey, owner of Corrina’s On Main in Dauphin isn’t overly worried about a third lockdown.
“I don’t let the numbers that they announce every day and that kind of thing really affect me,” said Abrey, adding “we just carry on with our days, whatever comes, comes whatever happens, happens. We’ll adapt as we have been for the last year.”
The local restaurant owner says she wants people to get back into their comfort zones of dining out “because [this virus] is probably going to be around for a while.”
The current public health orders in Manitoba for restaurants allow only those from the same household to eat together at a table indoors. A recent change to the public health orders allows Manitobans from different households to eat together at outdoor tables in groups of up to six.
The current set of public health orders is due for an update this Friday, and one possible change includes expanding indoor restaurant dining to allow people from different households to sit together if they are each other's designated household contacts.
