Relaxed restrictions have more Manitobans grabbing a bite, marvelling at museums
Ian Froese | CBC News | Posted: August 8, 2021 10:49 PM | Last Updated: August 8, 2021
Reduction in rules eases fears of diners reluctant to resume pre-pandemic activities: Red Top Drive Inn owner
Stavros Athanasiadis is offering his Winnipeg eatery's famed burgers to customers he hasn't served since the pandemic began.
It was a weekend highlight for him. As soon as the province lifted virtually all mandated restrictions on businesses, Athanasiadis, owner of the Red Top Drive Inn on St Mary's Road, was seeing some smiles he missed.
But he didn't point fingers at the previous requirements for mask-wearing and proof of vaccination.
He says many of those customers saw the province's loosening of restrictions announced last Tuesday, along with a declining COVID-19 case count, as licence to return to his diner's red vinyl seats.
"They wanted to be careful. They want us to be careful. And they're happy that I didn't put all my tables back again," Athanasiadis said of his clientele, which skews older. He's maintaining his restaurant at 50 per cent capacity for now.
"I think they're coming back because they feel a little bit more comfortable and they're double vaccinated, of course. That's my understanding."
Flashing vaccine card when not required
In fact, he said a weekend without pandemic limitations didn't stop guests from entering with their face mask, and some from flashing their proof of immunization card.
"They're happy to show us their card, even if they don't ask," Athanasiadis said.
He said business increased by 25 to 30 per cent this past weekend.
As of Saturday, Manitoba is no longer restricting businesses from accepting certain customers.
The province ditched the mask mandate and the condition of full immunization to catch a movie, marvel at a museum exhibit or grab a bite at an indoor restaurant with a long-lost friend. Previously, dine-in service was limited to the fully immunized and people from the same household.
Jason Gilmore, president of the Dauphin Rail Museum, said it is a bit of a shock to welcome visitors without any public health restrictions restricting who can enter.
"We had such stringent protocols and to go from that to almost no requirements, we're just trying to get used to that."
The museum only opened for the summer a few weeks ago. Gilmore said they had to turn away fewer than 10 per cent of visitors because of the previous restrictions.
He anticipates a modest increase in visitors in the days and weeks ahead, but still lower than pre-pandemic years when guests from other provinces and international centres could look back at a century plus of railway history.
Gilmore said he's comfortable welcoming all visitors to the museum, whether they're masked or vaccinated.
"I'd probably have a little bit more trepidation if our vaccine rates weren't where they are in Manitoba," he said. In Dauphin, 74.9 per cent of eligible residents have at least one vaccine dose, as of last week.
"I know we are going to have visitors from other areas, but I feel pretty safe being double vaccinated."
Over at Emerald Palace Restaurant in Winnipeg, manager Le Nhan doesn't hold the same confidence just yet.
Her Chinese restaurant on Sargent Avenue hasn't been open to indoor dining since the pandemic ushered in a rash of closures. She'll wait at least two weeks before she considers reopening, she said.
Her customers, though, are getting eager. By mid-day Sunday, she fielded 10 calls from customers clamouring for a return to dine-in. She only got two or three calls on Saturday.
"If the cases are low and we're not seeing the spread, the increase in the spread, then we might we might feel more comfortable opening," Nhan said.