B.C. bar industry wants party buses, limos to step up COVID-19 protocols after big group turned away

B.C.'s restaurant and bar industry is reminding patrons not to show up in big groups, and calling on party bus operators to come up with better pandemic safety plans.

The warning comes after a Vancouver restaurant manager turned away about two dozen people when a party bus made an unconventional curb-side drop off over the weekend.

Shortly after midnight on Sunday, the Hotel Belmont's general manager of food services Don Falconer tweeted about a "rolling penthouse party" outside the bar on Granville Street.

In the tweet, he wrote 20 to 25 people had poured out of the bus and wanted to go inside.

"It looked like a clown car almost, they just kept coming and coming and coming," he told CBC News on Sunday.

Falconer was upset that a large group would descend on a bar.

"It was shocking especially after all of the news this week and after seeing that people are starting to get it and more people are starting to follow the rules," he said.

Falconcer said the establishment, which has a Dr. Bonnie Henry poster at the door, has worked hard to meet health orders and avoid being fined or shut down during the pandemic.

It will only seat six people per table and does not allow mingling. In theory, he said they could have split the big group up and sat them at several different tables.

Ian Tostenson, president and CEO of the B.C. Restaurant and Food Services Association, agreed with Falconer that party buses transporting large groups with limited space for physical distancing is a problem.

Tostenson said not letting big groups in makes sense to protect patrons and staff from potential exposure to the novel coronavirus.

"To sort of think that someone in a party bus would just dump off 25 people and say 'go on in' is astounding in this, you know, world that we live in now," he said.

Tostenson said it would be hard to do contract tracing with such a large group, even if they were separated into six-person tables.

He wants limousine and party bus companies to do more to limit how many passengers it allows.

Tostenson suggests reducing capacity to 50 per cent, screening passengers and making masks mandatory.

Any business that wants to operate needs to demonstrate that public health is a top priority, he said.

Revving up safety

Party bus and limousine companies that CBC News contacted said they can set their own limit on passengers. Masks are not required.

WorkSafeBC, which regulates the party bus and limousine industry as it relates to occupational health and safety requirements said in an email statement that employers need to assess the risks to workers and implement measures to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 in the workplace.

"If physical distancing is not possible, other levels of protection include installing barriers, such as plexiglass, implementing rigorous cleaning and disinfecting practices, and personal protective equipment, such as masks," reads the statement.

Tommy Cuscito runs Tommy Limo, which offers luxury rides throughout the Greater Vancouver Area, Fraser Valley and the Lower Mainland.

He said on Monday that he has received email from WorkSafeBC to inform him about COVID-19 safety plans.

'We should be OK'

His business has set up barriers between drivers and passengers. It also has made changes to keep people distant from operators when greeting and loading.

Cuscito said bigger vehicles are being used, but only at 50 to 60 per cent capacity to prevent crowding.

"We won't be able to give them six feet, obviously, but if we can give them a couple feet and they're all doing their part with sanitizing and using the face masks, [then] I think we should be OK," he said.

His company also only makes multiple trips in one day if the vehicle can be cleaned in between, he said.

Henry concerned

On Monday, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry was asked about the party bus crowd being turned away from the Hotel Belmont.

She said the issue of people coming off party buses and not following the rules has been brought to her attention at restaurants that she has been to.

"We should not be putting staff and people who work in those settings at risk," she said.

Henry said party buses and limos could work, if everyone is part of the same social bubble.

"But I still have concerns about that," she said.