Algoma’s top doctor says Algoma Public Health (APH) was surprised by the timing of Premier Doug Ford’s Monday announcement allowing indoor bar and restaurant gatherings of up to 50 people (an improvement from outdoor patio eating/drinking and food takeout/drive-through service only) beginning Friday, July 17.
It’s part of the latest provincial government loosening of COVID-19 restrictions on businesses and social gatherings, known as Stage 3, which allows for outdoor gatherings of up to 100 people, the reopening of playgrounds, libraries, gyms and the partial restoration of other liberties (click here for a SooToday list of what can open and what can't).
Ford’s announcement comes just seven days after APH ruled staff, customers and the general public must wear masks at all times when indoors (in places such as banks, retail stores, malls, grocery stores, restaurants, bars, casinos, public transit and many other places) also beginning this Friday.
For a list of those places, click here
But how do you wear a mask and enjoy a beverage and a meal at the same time?
“That (APH mask directive of July 10) was issued before we knew Stage 3 was opening,” said Dr. Marlene Spruyt, APH medical officer of health and chief executive officer, speaking to SooToday late Monday afternoon.
“We this week will have to rephrase some of that and get some new instructions for indoor dining and drinking because it is totally impractical to wear a mask while drinking beer in a bar.”
“I’m a little worried about (the timing of reopening of) bars, I will admit,” Spruyt said.
“Gambling and alcohol are problems, vices the community has already, and so when you mix (gambling) with alcohol, people are less likely to follow the rules, they become more uninhibited, and gambling is already a problem so I’m a bit worried about casinos and bars, so it will be a part of the work we do to ensure they have good procedures in place to minimize any (COVID-related) risk to the public attending those locations,” Spruyt said.
It appears much of the onus will be on bar/restaurant staff to keep count of the number of customers chugging beer and chowing down on burgers, chicken wings and nachos to keep people as safe from COVID-19 transmission as possible.
“The bouncers are going to have their work cut out for them. They’re going to have to do a bit more than just controlling entry, they’re going to have to do some more monitoring inside,” Spruyt said.
“I don’t know if the public is there at the door, pounding the door down trying to get into the bars, so it may just be very sedate, people checking it out to see if they’re comfortable with it. We’ll watch, but bars and casinos, out of all the things that are listed, are going to be the hardest areas to monitor and control.”
“I've read the (provincial) framework for reopening. There’ll be no dancing (as a form of observing social distancing)...basically, people will be seated at bars associated with food, sports bars, tables are to be placed six feet apart, and there are a number of things like that to minimize the mingling between social circles, trying to keep away from the table of people next to you,” Spruyt said.
“It’s going to be challenging and we are going to have to see how it rolls out.”
“We already had people asking ‘what are we going to do in restaurants?’ and I said ‘restaurants aren’t open yet, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,’ and apparently we’re there a little sooner than we had anticipated. When we set Friday (July 17) as our masking date we did not know (the provincial) Stage 3 was opening Friday as well.”
“For restaurants and bars, I see it where people are seated at a table eating and drinking, they will not be required to wear a mask.”
“We’re working on solutions that make it practical for the operator and the customer. Masks are going to get knocked off the table and then they’re going to be on the floor...we kind of expected it was coming but quite frankly I didn’t think bars would be in it. I thought they would be some time off in the future. Given these changes we will be revising our directions to deal with the consumption of food and beverages in indoor spaces,” Spruyt said.
“We will have to issue a new set of instructions that matches the new regulations. We’re going to have to scramble this week and rewrite what we released last Friday, but nonetheless businesses will have to get masks and get ready. That is going to continue.”
At the same time, Spruyt said “I understand the man or woman who owns a bar, who has had it closed and laid off their staff, is dependent on reopening. It is a balance of health risks and income...(loss of income) is emotionally stressful, psychologically stressful and damaging to them, through no fault of their own (due to COVID-19).”
The reopening of playgrounds doesn’t worry Spruyt as much.
“There’s fairly good evidence the coronavirus doesn’t survive very long in the sunlight. One study talks about 97 per cent of the virus being gone after six minutes in bright sunlight, a little bit longer on a cloudy day.”
Overall, Spruyt said “I do believe that the curve has flattened enough. We’re seeing consistently, in the provincial numbers, below 200 cases a day, and the health units that are actually moving to Stage 3 are among the group reporting five or less cases a day within their jurisdictions. That 150 cases a day we’re seeing is still coming predominantly from the GTA and the Windsor outbreaks and so it’s reasonable to have those other health units and regions move forward with Stage 3.”
Most areas of Ontario have been in Stage 2 for just over four weeks, as planned, part of a gradual reopening coming after the Phase 1 protect and support strategy in the struggle against COVID-19.
Stage 3 is the third stage of the Phase 2 restarting of Ontario’s economy.
Phase 3 will be a long term recovery phase.
Spruyt said the Sault and Algoma’s low numbers of COVID-19 cases (25 confirmed, 24 resolved with no COVID-related deaths) is a good news story.
“The province closed down before we had a huge viral load in the north and beyond that people followed the instructions and directions we provided quite well.”
Spruyt said the increased use of masks in Algoma despite the region’s low numbers is “one little incremental thing which may just give us an advantage to maintain our low numbers and that’s why we decided to move forward with it because we knew Stage 3 was coming eventually and the only other thing there is to do is mask when you’re in those public places.”
“Southern Ontario’s getting outbreaks in workplaces and we want to stop that before it happens (in Algoma).”
Click here for a look at the provincial framework for reopening Ontario.
