BACK TO WORK ISN’T NEARLY AS SIMPLE AS IT SOUNDS FOR MANY BUSINESSES

John Ashleigh, the owner of Avenue Hair on 21st Avenue

S.W., is sometimes asked if he’s enjoyed his “time off” during the COVID-19 shutdown.

“Actually, I’ve been working harder than ever,” he says. “It’s incredibly complicated to shut down and start up again.”

Now the government’s May 14 target for the first stage of economic relaunch seems uncertain and abrupt to some business people.

“When the shutdown order came,” Ashleigh says, “I had to contact at least 500 of my personal clients and postpone their appointments. Now I have to call them all and reschedule.

“We will prepare to open on or shortly after May 14, although not at capacity because of health restrictions ... everyone’s safety is paramount.”

Like many other business owners, Ashleigh was anxious to see detailed health guidelines from Alberta Heath.

On Monday, the health department obliged by publishing updated Workplace Guidance for Business Owners.

It’s a 14-page litany of health measures that requires business people to not only train and screen their workers but also to carefully question patrons about symptoms.

If all those measures and a great many more are scrupulously followed, the only endangered species in a small business will be the virus.

That’s what everybody wants, of course. But for proprietors already stretched financially, the necessary health practices will be time-consuming and expensive.

At the venerable Buon Giorno restaurant on 17th Avenue S.W. near 8th Street, owner Claudio Carnali is struggling with the many complexities of reopening.

He has to determine if seating at only 50 per cent capacity can be profitable. His entire salaried staff, including some of the city’s best career servers, will have to be paid.

Carnali has a string of worrisome “what if” questions.

What if he spends scarce capital on health measures only to have an inspector find them inadequate?

What if patrons don’t come back? New polling from Marc Henry’s Thinkhq suggests 36 per cent of people will still be reluctant to eat in sit-down restaurants.

But most of all, Carnali says, “what happens if the virus starts spreading and we have to close again? That would be a disaster.”

For all those reasons and more, including city taxation, Carnali and his wife, May, fear they might have to dig into personal retirement savings in order to reopen.

Many owners aren’t sure all their employees will come back. Workers are as anxious as customers to know they’re returning to safe places.

Uncertainty about the timing is another major issue. A careful reading of the government’s relaunch strategy certainly justifies that worry.

May 14 is still a target date, not a certainty. The two later stages ending in a return to something approaching PRE-COVID-19 normal don’t even have timing estimates.

“Getting to each stage of relaunch will depend on our ability to keep infection rates low, and well within the capacity of the health-care system,” according to the strategy released last Thursday.

The key measures are the percentage of positive tests and demand for acute care and intensive care beds.

The worst nightmare for a health system is a sudden surge of cases that swamps available beds and backs up patients at the hospital gates. Nobody wants another New York.

The provincial projections look reassuring so far, but Calgarians are entitled to feel some unease.

This city is the outbreak epicentre for Alberta, with more than 70 per cent of cases and deaths occurring in the city and its surrounding health zone.

Provincial infections are expected to peak about May 14, the very date many businesses are tentatively slated to open.

John Ashleigh doubtless echoes many owners when he says: “I would love to see my clients, co-workers and friends again.”

But for that to happen, they all have to balance the use of space, staff and client safety, new training requirements, shaky finances and uncertain demand for their services.

It’s a lot more complicated than just opening the door. Inevitably, the demands will mean some businesses don’t open at all.