Too risky for a few brews in the sun

Once upon a time, in a realm called Canada, the arrival of temperate weather heralded the beginning of what studied drinkers referred to as patio season. A soothing and salubrious period, patio season was something of an annual holiday, when drinks could be imbibed in a leisurely mood and the day’s responsibilities could be abandoned by mid-afternoon.

Patio season is upon us — or rather upon Manitoba. As of Monday morning the provincial government will allow a variety of businesses previously deemed non-essential to reopen to the public, including campgrounds, museums and indeed restaurant patios, in an aggressive effort to reinvigorate the economy and return things to a state approaching normal. Premier Brian Pallister announced the decision last week as part of a multi-phase plan for reopening the economy, one considerably brisker and less cautious than those recently proposed by other provinces. Under Pallister’s plan, local restaurants will be allowed to reopen their dining rooms as early as the beginning of June.

And it’s not only restaurants and bar patios: retail stores are reopening across Quebec right now, outside Montreal, as people are back to shopping for sporting goods and furniture as normal.

From the living room sofa on which I’m writing these words I can look out onto the courtyard of my Toronto condominium and see the gentle sunshine bathing the concrete and shrubbery. The courtyard’s been shut down, of course, like all of the condo’s common areas, but still the gleaming sun and windless air are powerfully inviting. There is little I would rather do at the moment than lay this piece aside and head down to the pub across the street, whose drinks are overpriced and whose food is terrible, but whose patio is vast and inviting. Who could resist an immaculate pint in the balmy midday breeze? We’ve been confined to our homes for seven weeks now — long enough to crave the warmth and conviviality of a good bar again.

On the other hand it’s difficult to imagine summoning the courage, or perhaps idiocy, required to partake in such indulgence. I miss enjoying a beer on a bar patio as much as anybody, and after nearly two months under quarantine, I’m desperate enough for social life and some leisure time out of the house that I might seriously consider whether a drink with friends isn’t worth the risk of illness. But of course it isn’t worth the risk — not the risk to myself, which is arguably minimal — but certainly the risk to the more vulnerable, such as the elderly and immunocompromised.

As we endeavour to navigate this crisis and safely restore Canada to something like business as usual, our watchword is prudence. Manitoba more than most provinces observed that principle early on, undertaking lockdown measures swiftly and introducing tight restrictions on interprovincial travel as international cases continued to rise. While it’s precisely the efficacy of these measures that has made Manitoba uniquely prepared to ease back into its normal routines — the province has reported fewer than 300 cases of COVID-19 out of the 60,000 or so nationwide, with no new cases announced there on Monday at all — we all know successful social distancing efforts don’t entirely eliminate risk. You’d be safer on a patio in Winnipeg than in Toronto, no doubt, but would it still feel safe, all things considered?

It’s hard to picture it, lounging in the sun at a bar in Winnipeg this afternoon, shoulder to shoulder with strangers, sipping Heineken out of a glass a waitress has just touched, laughing and shouting and sharing air with any number of people who could potentially be sick, even if the tables are spaced a little further apart. I’d love to enjoy a bit of patio season right now, and I hardly want to be shut up inside forever. But who wants to jeopardize many for a few brews in the sun?

YOU’D BE SAFER ON A PATIO IN WINNIPEG THAN IN TORONTO, NO DOUBT BUT WOULD IT STILL FEEL

SAFE ...?