Sault bars and restaurants are welcoming new Ontario government health measures which loosen up prior restrictions on ‘last call.’
The province had announced Friday Sept. 25 it was stopping restaurants and bars from selling alcohol after 11 p.m. each night, requiring food and drink establishments to close by 12 a.m. (except for delivery and takeout).
Now, as of midnight Friday, Nov. 6, bars and restaurants may go back to regular last calls for alcohol, as late as 1:45 a.m., depending on the bar or restaurant.
A new colour coded system divides bars and restaurants (and communities in general) in the province into grey, red, orange, yellow or green zones based on COVID-19 case numbers and transmission levels.
They are Green (lowest level or restrictions), Yellow (strengthened restrictions), Orange (more restrictions), Red (modified stage 2) and Grey (lockdown).
As of 11 a.m. Nov. 6, Algoma Public Health (APH) had reported 47 confirmed COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, with 43 resolved cases, four active cases and no deaths, putting Sault and Algoma bars and restaurants well within the green zone.
“That’s great, they are allowing us to stay open till our regular hours, which is 2 a.m., but they still have restrictions where they’re mandating if you have a band you can have no more than 50 people with plexiglass in front of the band,” said Boomer Braido, Esquire Club owner, speaking to SooToday.
“(But the loosening on last call)...it’s nice, I’m happy about it. We’re having people in for wings, pool leagues, dart leagues, Catch the Ace,” Braido said, though he added he’s concerned for other businesses.
“I hope all the bars and restaurants survive. At some point we have to get back to normalcy.”
Other northern Ontario cities and districts have also been categorized as green.
Some southern Ontario centres have been classified as red or orange zones.
“I’m thinking that now the government’s thinking ‘okay, it’s not the bars and restaurants (responsible for a surge in Ontario COVID cases).’ In southern Ontario they closed all the bars and restaurants for 30 days and the cases have tripled since then. I think it’s the Thanksgiving dinners, the private parties, the backyard parties, the garage parties, several Halloween parties, that just can’t happen anymore.”
“But it was nice of them to lift it (the restriction on last call and operating hours). I think they realize it’s not the bars and restaurants because they are following the rules,” Braido said.
“I’m sure they’re going to lift more restrictions in these green zones as time goes on,” Braido said, looking forward to larger numbers of customers and bands within the walls of the Esquire Club.
Restrictions on indoor gatherings of no more than 50 people are still in place, however, along with social distancing and masks required for customers and staff.
Face shields will be coming for bar and restaurant staff soon as well.
“It (the prior restriction) hurt business. It deterred people from coming out in the first place knowing they had to leave at a certain time, so being able to go back to the old serving time will definitely help us,” said Lori Amendola, Soo Blaster bar supervisor.
Last call at Soo Blaster is 1:45 a.m., nothing served after 2 a.m., Amendola said.
“We’re happy. Anything that can help us serve our customers, whether 50 or less, we welcome it,” she said, adding the loosening will certainly help Soo Blaster in terms of revenue.
