Bar, restaurant owners worried by tightening of COVID-19 restrictions
Bar-owners and restaurateurs warned Sunday further restrictions in response to rising cases of COVID-19 will threaten the survival of their businesses.
“For sure, it will affect us,” said Renaud Poulin, president and CEO of the Corporation des propriétaires de bars, brasseries et tavernes du Québec, which represents 1,200 drinking establishments across the province.
Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé was expected to later announce the COVID-19 alert for Montreal, Quebec City and the Chaudière-appalaches health regions was being increased to orange (moderate) from yellow (early warning status).
The number of new cases of COVID-19 in Quebec jumped to 462 Sunday, after rising to 427 on Saturday. That marks their highest level since May.
Poulin said he is expecting Dubé to announce bars, which until Sunday had been allowed to stay open until midnight, will have to close at 10 p.m. “If we have to cut two hours, obviously that will affect the number of customers,” he said.
The number of people allowed around a table will be reduced to six from 10, and most gatherings will be reduced to a maximum of 50, down from 250.
Bars have lost 30 to 35 per cent of their business since the start of the pandemic, Poulin said.
“A lot of establishments won't make it until Christmas,” he predicted.
He warned if bars are forced to close earlier, some patrons might resort to private parties where there are no controls on social distancing, handwashing or the wearing of masks.
Federico Sanchez, director of communications and hospitality for Le Pois Penché, a French restaurant-brasserie on de Maisonneuve Blvd. W., said the pandemic has already forced the closing of several landmark restaurants in the downtown core.
In addition to the loss of tourists and office workers, there is no longer a demand for weddings and corporate events, he noted.
Le Pois penché has succeeded in attracting customers by revamping its dining room so social distancing guidelines are followed, he said. “That was keeping us afloat,” he said. But if restrictions are tightened because of a second wave of the virus, “we honestly don't know,” he said.
Ilene Polansky, the owner of Maestro SVP, a seafood restaurant on St-laurent, said restaurants that follow the rules, like hers, are being penalized for those that don't.
Polansky said she has witnessed patrons at a number of bars and restaurants not respecting distancing or wearing masks.
“I don't understand why people don't just follow the rules. The faster we follow the rules, the faster we'll get out of it,” she said.
Polansky, whose restaurant has operated for 28 years, recently expanded her customer base by adding a takeout business, Le Shack de fruits de mer, with a new menu.
“You have to be creative,” she said.