City readies for wider relaunch
Eateries, hairdressers call return of customers ‘exciting’, ‘stressful’
Restaurants, cafes, hair salons and barbershops will begin reopening in Calgary starting Monday, as the city begins catching up with the rest of the province’s economic relaunch strategy.
It’s been just over a week since the province announced Calgary and Brooks would enter the first phase of economic relaunch at a slower pace than the rest of Alberta due to ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks, but on Sunday, restaurant and salon owners were busy preparing to reopen their doors.
“We set up the patio (on the weekend) and people are excited. We’re going to follow the rules closely and if we do things right, everyone and our staff should be safe and we’ll be able to feel somewhat normal again,” said Cam Dobranski, owner of Winebar Kensington and Container Bar, which will take an extra day before reopening Tuesday.
“I want things to get back to normal and get the economy going again because, otherwise, we’re all in trouble.”
Dobranski was glad Calgary’s Phase 1 reopening was delayed because it offered more time for businesses to train staff, clean and understand the industry-specific regulations. He hadn’t prepared to open May 14 like many other Calgary businesses had before Premier Jason Kenney announced May 13 that Calgary and Brooks would see a delayed relaunch.
“We want to make sure that we’re doing this right . . . Luckily, we had been planning to open around this time already because it’s hard to get staff back and it’s hard to get anything done during these days,” said Dobranski.
According to the Alberta government’s Biz Connect website, restaurants are limited to 50 per cent capacity for dine-in service to ensure there is proper physical distancing between guests, and hair salons are asked to stagger appointments to give ample time to sanitize stations between clients.
Joshua Taylor, owner of Notorious Hair Group in Inglewood, said his salon is stocked with masks and disinfectants, and has arrows marking the floors for direction.
“It’s a bittersweet situation. I’m really excited just to get back behind the chair and just being able to see our clients again,” said Taylor.
“It’s exciting to get back to that part but it makes you a little nervous just because you want to make sure you’re doing everything properly . . . It’s stressful on that aspect because you’ve got to make sure that everything is detailed to the finest point and still do a good job doing hair.”
Taylor has auctioned off the appointments on his first day back for charity, raising almost $2,000 for research in pediatric psychosocial oncology and survivorship at the University of Calgary.
Amir Zaki, owner of Salon 101 on Elbow Drive, said hairstyling will be an entirely different experience now.
“Some clients could be really paranoid and some clients could be nonchalant about it. But all the procedures that we’re doing are to neutralize that situation,” Zaki said.
Trevor Tomanik, owner of the Metropolitan Grill, said he is more than ready to open Monday after initially preparing to open May 14. He said that as he set up the patio, passersby expressed excitement for the restaurant’s reopening.
Dwaine Boser, manager of Blue Vinny Diner, said even when the downtown diner does reopen, the crowd will look distinctly different.
“A lot of the working population at offices downtown won’t be back at work yet, so it’ll be interesting to see how many people there will even be,” Boser said. “Hopefully the locals that live around here will come down to support us local businesses.”
The next part of reopening in Calgary and Brooks is scheduled for June 1, reintroducing day camps, places of worship and funeral services with sector-specific guidance.
Alberta Health reported 5,924 people have recovered from COVID -19 of the 6,860 confirmed cases in the province. Another 42 cases were reported Sunday, bringing the total number of active cases to 801.
In 24 hours, Alberta Health Services completed another 4,015 tests. There are now 216,168 Albertans
who have been tested and a total of 236,789 tests completed.
Hospitalizations remain low, according to Alberta Health, with 46 people in hospital, including six requiring intensive care. With no new fatalities reported Sunday, the number of deaths in Alberta remains at 135.
According to Alberta Health’s update, some Albertans will have access starting today to health services such as non-urgent surgeries that require hospital stays. Voluntary testing for asymptomatic staff and residents in long-term care will also start Monday.
Maternity services are expected to resume at South Calgary Campus and High River Hospital on June 3 after being rerouted to other Calgary hospitals because of the large outbreak in south Calgary and High River.
Of the 28 COVID-19 outbreaks in Calgary currently declared by Alberta Health, only four still have more than 10 active cases.
The most significant ongoing outbreak in the city is at Cascades Recovery, where, as of Saturday, 30 of the facility’s 56 confirmed cases remain active. Last week, the outbreak led to a disruption of city recycling, which is processed at the facility.
Intercare Brentwood Care Centre and Hillcrest Extendicare are both battling outbreaks — the second- and third-deadliest in Alberta. At Hillcrest Extendicare, 18 of the supportive-living home’s 79 cases remain active, while at the Intercare Brentwood Care Centre, 13 of the facility’s 78 cases are ongoing as of Sunday.
At Intercare Brentwood 15 residents have died, and there have been 13 deaths at Hillcrest Extendicare. The Mckenzie Towne Continuing Care Centre is the site of the deadliest outbreak in the province, with Alberta Health reporting 19 deaths there and facility operator Revera Living reporting 21 deaths.
Alberta Health reports outbreaks publicly when there have been five or more cases. Public health officials can choose to declare an outbreak over when at least four weeks have passed with no new cases.
A lot of the working population at offices downtown won’t be back at work yet, so it’ll be interesting to see how many people there will even be.