With restaurants, bars and gyms set to reopen in a week with strict restrictions, business owners who haven’t gotten the green light say they feel puzzled by the government’s relaunch timeline.
Movie theatres and indoor entertainment centres are among the businesses waiting until the second, third and fourth stages of the new relaunch strategy, announced Friday by Premier Jason Kenney. Owners of such businesses say they are disappointed and confused about being left out of the Feb. 8 reopening, adding they have the ability to maintain just as safe an environment as restaurants and bars.
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“I’m not understanding why the risk management on theatres is categorized as much greater than Costco’s, Walmart’s and even bars,” said Nathalie Hunter, owner of Canyon Meadows Cinemas in southeast Calgary.
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“You’re spaced out, watching a show beside only those within your cohort. You’re really not socializing or visiting because you’re watching the screen, whereas at a restaurant you’re talking back and forth.”
Indoor seated events such as movie theatres are set to reopen around the time COVID-19 hospitalizations fall below 300 — the third stage of the relaunch strategy.
With clear markings for where to stand, 40,000 square feet, low capacity admitted to each theatre and staggered showtimes, Hunter feels her cinema is a safe space for patrons escaping the monotony of watching Netflix at home.
Hunter, along with similar business owners, continues to lobby the government to move up their reopening. She’s been selling popcorn and movie snacks through curbside pickup to have some form of income while theatres have been closed.
“We’ve been around for 20 years. I feel like we’re an iconic business here with a lot of very loyal customers who have been buying popcorn to give us a fighting chance,” said Hunter.
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Financial supports from the federal and provincial governments have been a “drop in the bucket,” leaving many businesses in trouble, she said.
For Brandon Johnson, owner of Speeders Indoor ProKarts, income was lost entirely when restrictions tightened in mid-December.
“Go-karting is already a socially distanced activity and with the measures we had in place, sanitizing karts, helmets and everything, in a 50,000-square-foot building with plenty of space to spread out, we feel Speeders is a safe activity,” said Johnson.
He says it’s hard to comprehend another several weeks of closures while eateries are given the go-ahead.
“We should be able to operate with the same kinds of protocols as restaurants, limiting it to households,” said Johnson.
Alberta Health said in a statement Sunday they are moving forward cautiously because of the need to limit the spread of COVID-19, and keep cases and hospitalizations declining.
“The grouping and sequencing of steps is based on relative risk for COVID-19 transmission. Actions with the lowest relative risk are being considered for easing, first,” the statement read.
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The second wave of eased restrictions is expected as early as March 1, if hospitalizations drop below 450, Kenney said Friday.
There are currently 561 people in Alberta hospitals, including 101 patients in intensive-care units, as of Sunday.
Another 461 cases were identified Sunday from 8,946 tests for a positivity rate of 5.2 per cent — the highest in more than a week.
Eight new deaths were also reported Sunday, including four people from the Calgary zone, three from the Edmonton zone and one from the North zone. Their deaths bring the province’s death toll to 1,639.
The number of active cases in Alberta continued to decline, reaching 7,505 Sunday, marking a decline from 7,530 active cases the previous day. The second wave’s mid-December peak hit 20,686 active cases.
Alberta reported only 502 doses of vaccine were administered since last updating the number Saturday. The province has completed 106,254 inoculations to date, including 16,118 Albertans who have received their first and second shots.
Sunday’s numbers continue a recent downward trend in new cases that has seen rural regions climb to the top of the province’s list of areas with the highest rates of active COVID-19 infections.
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The nine local geographic regions, as defined by Alberta Health Services, with the most per capita cases of COVID-19 are all in rural areas, according to provincial data.
The Municipal District of Bighorn, located west of Calgary and east of Canmore, leads Alberta, as one in every 63 residents currently has COVID-19.
The Municipal District Of Opportunity, Vulcan County, Lac La Biche County and Starland County each have fewer than 100 active COVID-19 cases, but those numbers translate to a high case rate due to small populations.
— With files from Jason Herring
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